A Silver Doe and a Stag Marauder
by abba2zabba15
Summary: Lily/James. "There are rumors that say that two people with corresponding Patronus shapes are meant to be. I never put much stock in it. But perhaps, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, you are more connected than you realize."
1. Chapter 1

"I don't believe I've ever seen a case like this. There are rumors that say that two people with corresponding Patronus shapes are _meant to be_. I never put much stock in it. But perhaps, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, you are more connected than you realize."

**A/N: I changed a few minor things in this chapter. Instead of Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett, I changed it to Kingsley Shacklebolt and Emmeline Vance, because they were in Gryffindor the year behind James and Lily. Thanks to Cwam and MarauderSeeker24 for pointing out my mistake, and that Molly and Arthur would actually have been around 7 years older than James and Lily.**

A Silver Doe and a Stag Marauder

"Rise and shine sleepy head!" a shrill female voice cut through the morning air. The girl whose peaceful slumber was currently being interrupted groaned and rolled over. "Come on Lils, wake up. You've got to get down to breakfast."

Lily Evans groaned again and tried to swat at the noise. Needless to say, this did nothing. Her bed curtains were ripped open and Lily moaned and flinched away from the light as quickly as she could, considering she was still half asleep.

She felt two little hands prod her sides, poking and jabbing at her, causing her to squirm so much that she fell out of her four poster bed.

"Bloody hell!" she exclaimed as she hit the ground. Lily finally blinked open her bright green eyes and looked up groggily. She realized she was face to face with the one and only Hestia Jones, her soon to be ex-best friend. Seriously, after seven years Hestia should know that Lily was _not_ a morning person.

"What time is it?" Lily managed to croak out, trying to clamber back into her bed. Hestia was having none of it.

"Lily Marie Evans, you get your arse out of bed this instant! It is a beautiful day outside, and you're in here wasting it!"

Lily managed a glance out the window and saw that it was barely morning. "What time is it, Hest?"

"It's 7:30, for your information."

Lily groaned. "It's too bloody early, Hestia. Come on, we've been having this discussion for years. You can't wake me up before eight. I'm not a pleasant person if I don't get my beauty sleep."

"You're never a pleasant person. And since when do you need beauty sleep? I swear, Lils, if you get any more beautiful… well I was going to put a smart line there, or analogy, but I can't think of one. So let's just leave it at the fact that you don't need any more beauty sleep. Now get up, classes start in an hour, and I for one would like to have eaten breakfast first."

Lily sighed, knowing she was defeated. She looked around the Head Girl's room, still surprised that she didn't share it with anyone. It was the only good perk of being considered the prissiest girl in the school.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes to get ready. I'll be out in your Common Room, hoping I don't run into the prat you share it with."

She was talking about James bloody Potter, the last person Lily wanted to think about, especially in the morning. How on Earth he ever became Head Boy, she'll never know. Secretly she thought that Dumbledore had finally lost his mind. Really, it's the only explanation. Although, admittedly, James hadn't been nearly as bad this year. In fact, Lily would have to say he's been almost… helpful. He really changed, it seemed.

He's stopped hexing people as they walk down the halls, him and his Marauders never get caught pranking anymore, and yesterday she actually saw him handing in an essay to Professor McGonagall! James Potter never does homework! Yes, Potter had made a surprising change in his attitude.

But she still didn't understand why he was Head Boy. Lily expected Remus to get the Head Boy badge. Everyone expected Remus to get the Head Boy badge. He was the smart choice, the best choice, really. And he was a prefect. It had previously been unheard of for a boy or girl to be made a Head without being a prefect first.

Yes, Dumbledore's definitely off his rocker.

Lily came out into the Common Room fifteen minutes later to see Hestia sprawled out on her couch. "Took you long enough."

"What are you talking about? I was in there for fifteen minutes!"

"Yeah, well it felt like longer." Hestia stood up and they walked side-by-side out of the room. "It's totally not fair that you get your own dorm room. I mean, yes, you have to share part of it with Potter, but you have your _own room_. You can totally bring boys around whenever you want and never have to worry about silencing charms or anything!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Hestia, I'm not exactly bringing boys to my room every night, or at all, for that matter."

Hestia groaned. "I forgot. There's a reason you're Head Girl. But still, I mean, you have the option. It's not like I do. If I brought a boy up to my room, do you know what the others would do? They'd take the mickey out of me. They wouldn't leave me alone. Can't you just imagine it? Little Mary poking her head through the curtain at the wrong time, Marlene making inappropriate jokes as loudly as she possibly could…" Hestia shuddered for emphasis. "Don't get me wrong Lils, I love our roommates, but I seriously miss you sometimes."

Lily laughed and hooked her arm through her best friend's. "You know you can come by my room anytime you want, Hestia."

"I know, I know, and it's always nice to have a backup plan, but I feel guilty leaving them up there all alone. I feel like they'll think I don't like them."

"We know you love us, Hestia." A voice said from behind the two girls. Lily and Hestia whipped around to see Mary McDonald and Marlene McKinnon come strolling down the marble staircase together.

"How did you wake Lily up so early?" Mary asked Hestia, looking awed.

Hestia looked very smug with herself. "What can I say? It's a gift."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I get it alright? From now on I will try to wake up when the sun is still rising. Now, can we get some bloody food?"

Lily stomped into the Great Hall, feeling annoyed for no apparent reason. She didn't sleep very well last night.

"Wow, maybe we should let her sleep in. I forget how touchy she can be sometimes." Marlene whispered to Hestia, who just waved her off.

"If we let her sleep through breakfast she'll kill us. With Lily it's sometimes tough to make a decision. What does she want more, food or sleep? Food wins out more often than not."

The three remaining girls entered the Hall and quickly made their way over to their redheaded friend, who was already helping herself to the wonderful food provided by the Hogwarts house elves.

They all dug into their food, making small talk about the upcoming Hogsmede weekend, when they heard a loud clamor from the Entrance Hall. The whole Great Hall went silent as every single student and staff member turned their attention to the huge wooden doors that were currently keeping whatever was making the din at bay. Lily slipped her wand out of her pocket furtively. She saw Hestia (who was sitting next to her) do the same. They were in the middle of a war; they couldn't be taking any chances.

Suddenly the doors burst open, and in flew a swarm of crimson and gold canaries. There must have been a thousand birds zooming around the Great Hall. Many of the students screamed and ducked under the table, but Lily just sat, mesmerized.

Then, just as quickly, the birds started dive-bombing the Slytherin table, knocking over goblets, ruining plates of food, and pulling at the robes of a few of the older students, like Severus Snape and Walden Mcnair.

And then, about 200 garden gnomes came running into the Great Hall, every single one of them stuffed into a little lion outfit and emitting a realistic roar every time they tried to open their mouths.

The birds were terrorizing the Slytherins, the gnomes refused to leave, and the teachers all seemed frantic. It really was quite funny.

Then the four Marauders came zooming in on their broomsticks, each one roaring with laughter and brandishing their wands, pointing them upwards at the enchanted ceiling. In bright gold cursive, the words, "_Courtesy of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_" appeared across the bright, cloudless sky. Below it, in smaller, silver letters, were the words, "_Go, Go, Gryffindor!_"

James flicked his wand once, and right above the entranceway to the Great Hall, the words, "_Will you date me, Evans?"_ appeared in bright purple.

A loud cheer erupted from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff tables. The Marauders hovered in midair and took over-exaggerated bows towards the students below. James scanned the room and then came swooping over to the Gryffindor table and stopped on top of it, right in front of Lily. He ran a hand through his hair. "What do you think, Evans?"

She looked around the Hall critically, then looked him full in the face and said, "I think the gnomes were a little much. Oh, and I think I'm not cleaning this up for you, Potter."

He blinked at her, seemingly disbelieving of her lack of reaction to this prank of all pranks. He had been hoping to impress her, to maybe make her laugh. James loved it when she laughed, but unfortunately it was all too infrequent around him. She hardly even smiled around him.

James sighed and raised his wand. With one last flourish, the screeching, pecking birds vanished, along with the lion-gnomes. His proposition also disappeared from above the door. The gold and silver words, however, remained suspended in the sky. Lily looked at him questioningly. He winked at her. "Well I can't do _all_ the work for them, now can I?"

"You're a git." Lily said to him, before scooping up her book bag and leaving the Great Hall without another glance behind her. James was left standing on the Gryffindor table, utterly defeated and dumbfounded. He couldn't believe it, all his hard work, for nothing. Lilly had barely even looked at him.

He slumped down on the bench next to her friend Marlene, who had always been nice to him and the other Marauders, seeming to get their sense of humor. He buried his head in his hands for a few moments, the only indication that he was at all fazed by Lily's complete disregard for him. Marlene patted him on the back reassuringly.

When James heard his friends fly over, laughing, he straightened up, wiped all hint of a frown off of his face, and pretended to celebrate with them.

"Did you see that, Prongs?" Sirius asked, clapping him on the back and slipping between James and Marlene. "Did you see the look on old Snivellus' face? Ohhh, I couldn't believe none of the birds got stuck in his greasy hair. So how do you think it went? I think it was smashing, dear boys, smashing." Sirius said, looking around at Remus and Peter, both of whom were flushed with excitement that only comes from a prank well executed.

"It was brilliant, Padfoot, brilliant." James agreed, though inside he was rather disappointed. But he wasn't going to show that to his friends. The only people who had any idea of how much James really cared for Lily were Marlene and Remus. Yes, Sirius had some idea, but he thought James was just after her for a shag.

Marlene was on the Quidditch team. She was the Keeper, and she was the one who saw James at his most vulnerable, right after Lily rejected him. And Remus was smart enough to catch up on all the little things James did around her. He noticed that James always messed up his hair more, that he acted like a bigger prat, that he genuinely lit up whenever she said anything remotely kind about him, and how he got a blank, awe-filled look on his face whenever Lily had to bend down to pick something up. Yes, the last one was very teenage-boy-oriented, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Marlene leaned over Sirius and whispered quietly, "Don't worry James. She'll come around soon enough." James could only hope it was true. Marlene was the only one of Lily's friends that approved of the inevitable James-Lily relationship, and even encouraged James. Though the whole school was aware of James' pursuits, and every single one of them was waiting for the day when Lily Evans would realize they were perfect for each other. It was a day a long time in the making. Even her friends, though they didn't exactly _like_ James, didn't dislike him either, and just wished Lily would accept him already.

James sighed before digging into his food.

"Ahem." Someone behind them cleared their throat. James, Sirius, and Marlene all turned around slowly, knowing that this was coming. Professor McGonagall was behind Sirius, arms folded across her chest, and looking very unhappy.

Sirius put his best smile on, and said, "Ah, Minnie my dear! How are you this fine morning?"

She pursed her lips. "I'm not very happy, Mr. Black, not happy at all. Do you four realize what you say about Gryffindor House every time you do one of your ridiculous pranks? You are setting a poor example for the younger students. And I am especially disappointed in you, Mr. Potter. You are Head Boy. The other students look up to you. I had hoped that this boost in responsibility would help straighten you out, not give you a better reason to cause mayhem and wreak havoc on the castle!" She glared at the four Marauders in turn, and each one hung their head, in real shame on James and Remus' parts, but Sirius and Peter were just acting ashamed.

"Detention, all of you. You will all report to my office at 8:00 for the next week, and twenty points from Gryffindor, _each_. I hope you learn something from this. Sometimes, being flamboyant and loud is _not_ the best way to gain attention or affection from other students." She said this last part directly to James, and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

Professor McGonagall turned on her heel quickly, and stomped back up to the teachers' table at the front of the hall. James followed her progress with his eyes, until he found them drawn to Professor Dumbledore. James met the Professor's piercing blue gaze, and was surprised to see a twinkle in his eyes. Dumbledore was smiling slightly at James.

The Headmaster then pulled his wand out of his pocket and gave it a light flick. A piece of paper appeared on James' empty plate. It read:

_I always appreciate a well-pulled prank Mr. Potter, as I'm sure you know. However, I'm not sure Ms. Evans feels the same way. Perhaps, the next time you wish to ask her out, you should try some nice chocolates, maybe some flowers. I've never thought of her as one who answers well to flamboyance and, if you may pardon my language, pig-headedness. I suggest a less egotistical approach next time._

_Cordially,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

James' eyes widened and he jerked his head up to meet Dumbledore's laughing expression. James smiled at the old man. Maybe he was right. There's a reason Dumbledore was everyone's favourite headmaster.

"What's on the paper, Prongs?" Sirius asked with a mouthful of toast.

James smirked. "Oh nothing Padfoot, just a little advice from a friend."

Sirius shrugged and turned his attention back to his food. Remus glanced down at his watch. "We should get headed to Charms. We don't want to be late. Professor Flitwick said we'll be working on Patronus Charms today." Remus said, his eyes flashing with unbridled excitement.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said. "I've always wondered what my Patronus would be…"

"Hmmm, let's think…" James said, with mock-thoughtfulness. "If I had to guess… I think it would be a _dog._" Sirius slapped him on the back of the head.

"Why would it be a dog?" Marlene asked, looking confusedly between the two boys. They exchanged a secretive look.

"I always found Sirius to be very similar to a dog. You know- the hair, the drool, the fleas…" This earned James another slap on the back of the head, while Marlene and Remus burst out laughing.

"I think it's going to be difficult." Peter said, a tremor in his voice. "I mean… Patronus Charms… those are seriously advanced."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "We're in NEWT level Charms Wormtail, what did you expect?"

Peter shrugged, but still looked worried. Remus clapped him on the back. "Don't worry about it, Wormtail. We'll all help you out after class if you still don't get it." This made Peter relax, and the four boys stood up to go to Charms.

"Hey, wait up! We'll walk with you." Hestia called, as she, Mary, and Marlene all hastened to catch up.

"Anything for you, my dear Ms. Jones." Sirius said, halting his walk until Hestia was in line with him, and then continuing to walk with a more pronounced sway than before. Hestia scowled.

"I've told you before Black, I'm not interested in being another notch on your bedpost."

Sirius grabbed at his heart. "I'm hurt, Hestia. I had hoped you thought better of me."

Hestia rolled her eyes. "I'm too smart for that, Black. Why don't you go sniffing somewhere else?"

James laughed at her word choice and yanked Sirius along to Charms, ignoring his friend's complaints.

They got to the classroom with two minutes to spare, so there were quite a few open seats. Hestia immediately headed over to Lily's table and sat next to her. Mary and Marlene took the table right next to it. Sirius tried to head towards the back of the class, but James pulled him to the table right behind Lily's, where he could stare at her all he wanted and she couldn't yell at him. Remus and Peter took the table next to James and Sirius', right behind Mary and Marlene.

A few other students flowed in to the class in the last few minutes. Lily waved at Alice when she came in, and James and Sirius nodded at Frank Longbottom, who was next to her, holding her hand.

They had this class with the Hufflepuffs, which wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, while not tight friends, were all cordial with each other, for the most part. They were a nice group with pleasant dispositions. They weren't obnoxious know-it-alls like some of the Ravenclaws, and they weren't prats and arseholes like the Slytherins.

Professor Flitwick came bustling in, excitement seeping off of him. "Good morning class! I hope you all ate a sufficient breakfast, because today's lesson is going to be quite difficult and exhausting. It is, however, one of my favourite ones to teach. Today we will be working on the Patronus Charm. Often this is taught during Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I begged Professor Dumbledore to let me teach it to you.

"The Patronus Charm is quite difficult to conjure. In order to produce a fully-fledged, corporeal Patronus, you must be very competent with Charms, in addition to having a very powerful concentration. Now, on to the directions. To produce a Patronus, you must think of a happy memory. Not just a pleasant memory, but a truly happy memory, the stronger the better. It must be able to fill you up, and you must be able to _feel_ the emotion, as if it were happening to you at this very second.

"Once you have your memory, you say 'Expecto Patronum', and wave your wand in a clockwise circle, followed by a quick jab, like so. Expecto Patronum!" A large, silver bird erupted from Professor Flitwick's wand and swooped about the room, before vanishing.

A collective "Ooohhh" went up at the sight of the beautiful creature. James watched it with rapt attention. He had never seen anything so carefree or beautiful in his life, except maybe Lily.

"The Patronus Charm is used to ward off Dementors, and though I pray you never have to use it, it is still a very useful spell to know. Now, I would like you to split up into pairs and begin working on the charm. I warn you, it is a very frustrating process. I don't expect any of you to be able to produce a corporeal Patronus on your first try. At the most, you will probably just produce silver mist. But do not let it deter you. I have complete faith in the lot of you, and I trust that by weeks end, almost all of you will have the Patronus Charm accomplished."

The students began to split up, buzzing excitedly and talking about which animal they would produce.

"No, no, no, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, absolutely not! Mr. Black, I would like you to work with Ms. Jones, and Mr. Potter, you will work with Ms. Evans."

Lily's eyes flashed as she looked at James' smirking expression. "Wait, Professor Flitwick, are you sure I have to work with Potter? Can't he work with Remus?"

"No Ms. Evans. You are a much better influence. And as you are our Head Girl, you and Mr. Potter must learn to work together. Come along now, it is a double period, but that is no excuse to dawdle. Work quickly."

Lily glared at James as he came swaggering over to her. "Well isn't this a coincidence? Come now Evans, cheer up. We're just working on Charms work."

"I don't want you messing me up Potter. The Patronus Charm is definitely going to be on our NEWTs, and I would like to be able to produce one."

He held up his hands in surrender. "I promise no funny business. I want to learn this charm just as much as you do."

Lily looked at him, unsure whether or not he was lying. As if he had read her mind, James said, "I'm not lying. I promise no funny business. Now, which memory are you thinking of using?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if I have a memory like the one Professor Flitwick described."

"I know what you mean. Oh well, I guess we have to try, right? What animal do you think yours will be?"

She shook her head. "No idea. How about you?"

He shrugged, though he had a very good guess as to what animal his would be. He didn't really want to say it, because Lily was one of the cleverest witches in the school, and he didn't want to risk her learning his secrets.

"Well, I guess we should start." Lily said as the silence became awkward.

He nodded. "You can go first."

She appeared to be in deep thought for a minute, before standing up a little straighter and saying in a clear voice, "Expecto Patronum!" Nothing happened. She shrugged. "Well that's fine. I didn't expect to do it on the first try. I guess I should look for a better memory."

James thought hard for a minute, and then decided on his first Christmas at Hogwarts, with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "Expecto Patronum!" Again, nothing happened. He frowned. "I guess that one's not strong enough."

"What did you think about?"

"My first Hogwarts Christmas."

Lily looked at him, shocked. "That's the one I tried."

He smiled. "I guess great minds think alike."

"I guess so. I think it's my turn now." She thought for a minute. "Expecto Patronum!" This time, a light silvery mist flowed out of her wand, but it wasn't in a definite shape. "Did you see that? Did you? Something happened!" Lily said excitedly as the mist faded.

James grinned right along with her. "What did you think about?"

"It was when I was younger, when I still talked to my sister. I had fallen over earlier that day, and Petunia helped me out all day. She sat by my bed and hugged me until I stopped crying, and then she read to me until I fell asleep."

"Sounds like a great sister."

"Yeah… she used to be." Lily grew quiet and wouldn't look at James.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I guess it's my turn."

James and Lily continued to try and cast the charm, and by the end of the lesson both of them could produce thick silver mist every time they tried the charm. They were the farthest students along, so Professor Flitwick awarded them each ten points. "I would like a foot long essay about the Patronus Charm and the effects it has on Dementors to be completed and on my desk in exactly one week's time, no exceptions. Have a good day!" Flitwick dismissed them.

The Marauders, Lily, and Hestia all had a free period next. Marlene, Mary, Frank, and Alice were all still taking Divination. The six seventh year Gryffindors who weren't taking it had all dropped it after their fifth year, all finding it completely pointless.

James suggested that they spend their free time down by the lake, because it was a beautiful day with mild temperatures. All of them agreed, each feeling like they needed some fresh air.

The group trooped outside and strolled over to a large oak tree on the edge of the lake, each of them talking about the past Charms lesson. "I thought it was brilliant, but completely impossible." Remus said, flopping down on the grass. They all nodded in agreement.

Peter sat down on Remus' right, and Hestia sat on his left. Sirius quickly slid into the spot next to Hestia and threw an arm over her shoulder. She scowled and threw him off. Lily sat a little behind the others, leaning her back against the tree. James joined her quietly, trying not to make her angry. She didn't say anything, which he considered a good sign.

"How did you manage to get _anything_ Prongs?" Sirius asked jealously.

James shrugged. "I guess I've just got better concentration than you Padfoot. Still, it's not like I actually _made_ a Patronus. Flitwick was right, it's way more difficult than he made it look."

"At least you got _something_. And the rest of you all got nothing. I managed to light Flitwick's beard on fire! I don't know what I did, but it was dreadfully wrong!" Peter exclaimed, hiding his head in his hands while the rest of them roared with laughter. "It's not funny! I can't do anything right! Charms is impossible!"

"It's not impossible Wormtail; you just need to have a better attitude about it." Remus said, placing a reassuring hand on his friend's arm.

"Can we not talk about Charms anymore? I think we should work on our Quidditch plays."

"Oh not bloody Quidditch again!"

"I don't think that's very fair, Evans. You really should give it another chance."

"I've given it plenty of chances, Potter, and I'm not changing my mind. All you lot can think about is bloody Quidditch!"

Sirius cut in then. "I agree with James. You really should give it another chance. I mean, James is chaser and captain, I'm beater, Hestia here is the other beater, and Marlene is the keeper. A good lot of your friends play the game. I think the least you can do is tolerate it."

Lily sighed. "I'm sorry Sirius, Hestia. I just can't bloody stand it! You all talk about it nonstop, and I'm just no good at it."

"Ahh, the truth comes out!" Sirius exclaimed. Everyone turned to him, confused. "The real reason you don't like Quidditch is because you're a crap flyer, and you can't stand that there's something in this world that you can't do."

Lily blushed. "That's hardly fair Black. Yes, I don't like it because I'm crap at it, but you make me out as some bitch that's completely vain and self-centered, and can't do bloody anything wrong!"

"Now I never said that. Not that it isn't true or anything, but…"

James was up and with his wand drawn at Sirius before Lily could blink. "That's out of line Padfoot."

Sirius held his hands up. "Look, I'm sorry Prongs. I'm sorry Evans; I was just taking the mickey."

"It's fine Sirius, really it is. I didn't think you were serious."

"But I am Sirius." He said, pretending to be confused.

"I swear to Merlin Padfoot, if you make one more Sirius-serious pun, I'm going to hex you." Remus said, still lying on the ground with his eyes closed.

They all laughed. James sat back down and stowed his wand. He didn't make eye contact with Lily.

"Thanks anyways, James." She said, and leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. James thought that he could have made a perfect Patronus right then, if only they were in Charms class.

Neither Lily nor James said anything about the kiss for the rest of the day. At lunch though, the two sat next to each other and exchanged small talk. This didn't go unnoticed by Remus, Marlene, or Hestia. The rest of their group didn't seem to notice it, but those three did. It was a rare occurrence to see James Potter and Lily Evans talking to each other and not exchanging insults.

They had Transfiguration after lunch with the Ravenclaws, and McGonagall was her usual severe self, except a little colder towards James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter than she usually would be. It seemed her pride was still wounded. She assigned them a fifteen inch essay for homework on the properties of an Animagus, and the difficulties in becoming one. The Marauders seemed to find this assignment extremely funny, though they wouldn't explain why to anyone.

After Transfiguration they had Potions with Professor Slughorn. He doted on Lily just as much as usual, and it made James more uncomfortable than it usually did. He had them brew the Draft of Living Death, a fairly easy Potion for most of the class. Half of them made a passable brew, Peter's was despicable, James' was above average, Remus' was close to perfect, and Lily and Snape each had a flawless potion. They got 15 points each. Slughorn dismissed the class without homework, which James was grateful for. He had 27 inches of parchment to fill up for homework. Knowing Lily and Moony, they would both squish their handwriting together to try and fit as much information as possible and Padfoot would write as large as possible and hope he didn't lose points because of it.

As he was leaving the classroom, James sped up to catch up with Lily and Hestia. "You know Evans I think Slughorn has a crush on you." _Not that I can blame him_, James added in his head.

Lily sighed. "I know. It's bloody annoying, and creepy, at that. I don't know why he spends so much time complimenting me, when everyone knows that Sev… that someone else is better than me." She caught herself in the middle of saying her ex-best friend's name. It was still a sore subject with her, and James found he was sorry he brought up Slughorn at all.

"So, twenty-seven inches of homework, can you believe it?" He added after a few seconds of awkward silence. Hestia and Lily latched on to the topic gratefully.

"It could be worse." Hestia reasoned. "At least old Sluggy didn't give us work. I'll barely be able to get _this_ much done."

"I know…" Lily said. "I see many nights of being in the library in our future."

Hestia groaned and James chuckled. "Lily, no one likes the library buy you."

"Hey, the library is very useful! How do you expect to pass any of your exams if you don't even know where they keep the Defense books?" Lily asked her friend.

Hestia shrugged. "I don't know. If only I had a brilliant friend who had memorized all of the useful books already… oh wait, I do! Come on Lils, you're a walking Encyclopedia! No one knows as much as you do, except maybe Remus."

"What about me?" James cut in.

Hestia and Lily gave him a long, calculating look. "You're clever Potter, I'll give you that, but I'm fairly sure you would have failed out of Hogwarts if you didn't have Remus to force you to do your homework." Lily said, smirking.

James laughed. "I think you're absolutely right Evans. It's no wonder you're the smartest in the school." Lily blushed and didn't say anything in response to the flattery.

They all had about an hour before dinner, so the group made the decision to get started on their homework, much to Hestia and Sirius' displeasure.

"If you don't do it now Hest you'll be up doing it all the night before. And I know you hate staying up until two in the morning doing your homework." Lily said as she dug through her book bag looking for a quill.

Hestia sighed and plopped herself in one of the best armchairs by the fire. "Fine, fine, you're right. I'll get started on it." She pulled out parchment and a quill and started flipping through her books, looking for good information.

When they finally decided it was time to leave for dinner, Lily had already finished Professor Flitwick's essay, as had Remus. James was about half-way done, Peter was struggling through his fourth inch of writing, and Hestia and Sirius had barely written a sentence, instead spending the whole time flirting with each other, though Hestia would hastily deny that that's what she was doing if anyone called her out on it.

Dinner was uneventful, in that nothing unusual happened. The group entered the hall, ate their dinner, laughed at Sirius' attempts at flirting with Hestia, and then left. It was 7:45 when they all went back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Lily, Hestia, Marlene, and Mary all plopped down on the sofa or in armchairs by the fire, while the boys took seats on the floor. Remus looked at his watch. "We only have ten minutes until we need to head down to McGonagall's." Sirius groaned.

"Honestly, I don't see why you all couldn't just come into breakfast like a normal group of people." Hestia said, picking up a book and flipping through it.

"Because, dear Hestia, _we_ are not normal people." Sirius said, leaning back against her legs.

"Oh believe me Sirius; we know you're not normal." Hestia said, just loudly enough for him to hear.

"What time will your detentions be done?" Lily asked.

James shrugged. "It depends on how McGonagall is feeling. If she's in a particularly good mood, all we'll have to do is write lines. If she's feeling nasty, then we'll probably have to polish the trophy room." All four groaned. They had quite a history with that trophy room, and none of it was pleasant.

"Well, it serves you right!" Mary said, giving a firm nod.

"Come off it Mary, that joke was bloody hilarious! I mean the gnomes in lion outfits… priceless." Hestia said with conviction.

Sirius swelled with pride. "All my idea, might I add."

James whacked him on the back of the head. "No, actually Padfoot, I believe the gnomes were Moony's idea. You had the dive-bombing canaries."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, either way, I would say I definitely contributed."

Hestia rolled her eyes. "Congratulations Sirius, do you want a dog biscuit for it?"

"Do you have one?"

"As enjoyable as this is," Remus said, cutting through everyone's laughter, "we really need to be going. We don't want to be late on top of it."

"You're right." James said, getting up and stretching. As he lifted his arms above his head, his robe fell open and his shirt rode up slightly, just enough for Lily to see a sliver of his well-defined stomach muscles. She had to physically force her mouth not to drop open. The last thing she needed was to be aiding Potter's already swollen ego.

"Do you think you'll be back in time for rounds?" Lily asked James as he was stepping out of the portrait hole.

"I don't know. I'll try as hard as I can. Maybe McGonagall will let me off early to patrol with you."

"Well, if you don't make it I'll just go alone."

He quickly crossed the room until he was directly in front of her. James grabbed her hands in his and said urgently, "Don't go alone."

"Why not?" She asked, not bothering to pull her hands from his.

"We're in the middle of a war, Lily. And you being a muggleborn… well, some of the Slytherins might take the opportunity to attack you. Please, if I don't make it back in time, promise me you'll go with Kingsley Shacklebolt. He's the sixth year prefect, and he's a nice bloke. He'll look out for you."

Lily looked up into James' eyes and saw genuine concern on his features. She nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll go with Kingsley if you don't make it back. But I can take care of myself Potter."

"I know you can Evans. But I'd feel better. Just… do it as a favor to me, yeah?"

"Alright. Fine."

"Thank you." He whispered, bending down to kiss her on the cheek before running out of the portrait hole after his friends. Lily's cheeks were a faint pink as she reached her hand up, almost in a daze, and brushed the spot where James' lips had been.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Hestia asked, looking bewildered.

"I… I don't know." Lily said truthfully.

Hestia gave Marlene and Mary a look. The three nodded at each other before grabbing Lily by the arms and dragging her up to the seventh year girl's dorm.

"Wait." Hestia said, before knocking loudly on the door. "FRANK? ALICE? ARE YOU TWO IN HERE?" She yelled loudly through the closed door. There was no answer. "Alright, it's safe to go in."

They dragged Lily through the door and placed her on Hestia's bed. The three other girls stood in a line in front of Lily, arms crossed, looking severe.

Lily glared at them. "What did I do to deserve this? Why are you lot dragging me through the Common Room? Did you need something illegal done? Am I in trouble?"

"Yes, you are in trouble." Hestia said, glowering and not bothering to answer the other questions.

"What did I do, might I ask?"

"What's been going on with you and James today?" Marlene asked.

Lily went a little red. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't give me that! You were perfectly dreadful to him this morning, much like your usual self, and then after Charms, you're just… pleasant to him. It's bizarre." Hestia looked accusingly at her best friend.

"I just thought that we should be a little more… mature in our relationship. Is that such a crime?"

"No, it's not a crime. But you know how that boy feels about you Lily, and it seems like you're dragging him on! I saw you kiss his cheek today, by the lake." Lily blushed, but Hestia continued her tirade. "You've been laughing with him, chatting to him, hell you've even been _flirting_ with him!"

"I have not!"

"Oh yes you have. Even Mary can see it."

Mary nodded solemnly. "It's true. It's insanely obvious."

"Look… I'm not _flirting_ with Potter. I'm just being cordial."

"You were sitting next to him at lunch."

"And you were sitting next to Sirius!"

Now it was Hestia's turn to blush. "That's different, there's nothing going on there."

"There's definitely something going on! Help me out, Marlene."

The whole room turned to Marlene, who shrugged. "She's kind of got a point, Hest. Next to her and James I've never seen so much unresolved sexual tension."

"This isn't about me and Sirius! Who are we interrogating? You lot can do this to me if I ever suffer enough brain damage to allow me to date that prat."

"I'm not dating Potter."

"No, you're not-yet. But come on Lils, admit it. You fancy him."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do. You fancy James bloody Potter. You think he's sexy. You find his cavalier attitude charming. You swoon when you see his dark, wind-tossed hair. His mysterious air and bad boy visage gets you hot."

Lily rolled her eyes. "He's not James Dean, Hestia."

"Who?"

Lily shook her head. "Muggle reference. But no, Hestia, I don't fancy James Potter."

"You can't even look me in the eye when you say that!"

Lily brought her piercing green eyes to meet Hestia's soft brown ones. "I-do-not-fancy-James-bloody-Potter." She said through clenched teeth.

Hestia's stance remained firm, but Marlene softened and went to sit down next to her friend. "Look, Lily, I know you think you hate him, but think about this. What has he done recently that's so prattish-excluding this morning, that is?" She cut in quickly.

Lily thought for a few moments. She couldn't really think of anything. Besides the fact that he still ran his fingers through his hair every other second, James hadn't done anything terrible in a year. Can he really have changed? Lily didn't believe that people ever could… but it seems like James was living proof.

"I… I ne-need a while." Lily said, getting up and sprinting out of the room. She came down off of the stairs at a run and almost knocked over a large boy with dark black skin.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Kingsley Shackelbolt apologized in a deep, relaxing voice. "I wasn't looking where I was going." He said, glancing back over his shoulder at Emmeline Vance, who was sitting in the corner, laughing with some of her sixth year friends.

Lily followed his gaze and her expression softened when she saw where he was looking. She didn't mention it to Kingsley though. Instead she said, "Kingsley, I really need a favor. James is serving detention tonight and school rules say you can't go patrolling on your own. I know it's not your night, but can you come patrolling with me? You'd be doing me a huge favor."

"Of course I can, Lily. Do we need to go now?"

"Yeah, now would be good. I need a little time to think about… things…"

He didn't press her, or ask what she was talking about, and for that Lily was extremely grateful. She always knew Kingsley was a nice bloke, and James approved of him. James didn't approve of anyone.

They walked along in silence for a long while, starting at the top of the castle and working their way down to the dungeons. They didn't talk much, but they didn't need to. They weren't friends, per se, but they were definitely _friendly_, which meant that walking in complete silence wasn't awkward. They both had more important things (or rather, people) to think about.

When they were headed back up from the dungeons, on about the third floor, Lily finally said something. "She's a wonderful girl, Kingsley. I can see why she has your eye."

Kingsley jumped and started sputtering in embarrassment. "I… I don-don't know what you mean."

Lily smiled softly. "Relax Kingsley; I'm not going to tell her. But I think you should. We're in the middle of a war. I'd hate to see something that could be go to waste."

"But what if she doesn't like me?" he asked in a small voice.

"But what if she does? You need to take a chance Kingsley. Use that Gryffindor bravery. Ask the girl out to Hogsmede. The next weekend is coming up in just a month."

Kingsley seemed to think about it for a minute, before letting a huge grin cross his face. They were approaching the Gryffindor Common Room, and Lily could see Hestia outside of it, looking around. She stopped right before they rounded the corner.

"I'm going to head back to my room now. Thanks for doing this Kingsley, you really saved my life."

He nodded. Right as she was leaving, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned back around to see Kingsley standing there, smiling lightly. "Thank you, Lily. I think I'm going to take your advice. I think you should take it, as well."

Lily didn't have time to ask him what he meant, because he was off, sprinting towards the Common Room before she could open her mouth. He gasped out the password, and she had just enough time to hear him shout "Emmeline!" before the portrait swung shut again, leaving her in the silent hallway.

She made her way to her room and entered the Common Room that she shared with James. It was almost strange to see it without him. She was so used to coming in and seeing his form sprawled across the couch, ruffling through his hair and playing with his stupid snitch. Why did he even have a snitch? The man was the bloody chaser!

Though it was only about 11, and Lily could use the time to get more of her essay done with, she was exhausted, and needed some time to think. She went into her room, changed into her pajamas, lay down on her bed, and drifted off to sleep mere minutes later.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't believe I've ever seen a case like this. There are rumors that say that two people with corresponding Patronus shapes are _meant to be_. I never put much stock in it. But perhaps, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, you are more connected than you realize."

A Silver Doe and a Stag Marauder

Lily opened her eyes. By glancing at the watch she had on her bedside table, she could see that it was about 7:30. _That's weird…_ she thought, _Hestia's not here waking me up._ Lily looked around once more, just to be certain her friend wasn't hiding out in a corner.

Lily hopped out of bed and went into the bathroom. The bad part of this bathroom was that it was the place (besides the Common Room) that connected her room and James'. So Lily always had to remember to lock his door so he wouldn't accidentally walk in on her in a towel. That had happened before, on her second morning back at school. Though James didn't seem to mind, it mortified Lily and made her extremely cautious (and very thankful that he didn't walk in on her in _less_ than a towel).

Lily showered and got ready very quickly. She used her wand to magic her hair dry, pulled it into a ponytail, and then walked out of her bedroom and into the common room. James was sitting on the couch fidgeting.

"Hey." He said, leaping up as soon as he saw her.

"Hey back. Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought we could walk down to breakfast together. You know," he cleared his throat awkwardly and ran his fingers through his hair again, "if that's alright with you."

"Yeah, that sounds fine." She said. He grinned and then followed her out of their room.

James fell into step next to her as they started the trek down towards food. "So you went patrolling without me, I gather."

"Yeah, sorry, Hestia was getting on my nerves and I really just needed to do something. Don't worry, I went with Shacklebolt."

"Good. How is he, by the way?"

"Pinning after Emmeline Vance. But hopefully he took my advice and asked her out."

"Pinning after a girl, huh, I wonder how that feels." James said sarcastically.

Lily didn't say anything. James cleared his throat. "So… do you think you'll get the Patronus Charm down today?"

Lily was thankful for the change in topic. "I honestly don't know. I mean, I want to, Merlin knows I do, but it's incredibly difficult, and I can't seem to find a memory good enough. At least I'm getting mist though. What about you? Do you think you're cocky enough to have it down by the end of the lesson?"

James shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't know. I seem to be having the same problem you are. None of my memories are strong enough. If anyone's going to get it today, though, it's bound to be you."

Lily tried to brush off the compliment. "You're just as far along as I am. And who knows, maybe Sirius got a very satisfying snog in a broom cupboard last night and he'll surprise us all with his wonderful Charms work." Lily said sarcastically. James laughed heartily.

"Have any idea what animal yours will be?" He asked her when he got his laughter under control.

"The answer is still no. I couldn't imagine what I would be. I mean, what kind of animal do I act like? I haven't the foggiest."

"I hope mine is something cool. Wouldn't it be awesome if I had a Manticore, or a phoenix, or a white tiger? That would be brilliant."

"I thought they tended to be more… normal animals. I don't know. I always imagined you as a gerbil sort of man myself."

James looked affronted. "A _gerbil?_ Now tell me Evans, what is ferocious about a gerbil?"

"I don't know, but I never pictured you having a Manticore. You know they're not even classified as beings due to their violent tendencies. And, between you and me, I always found them a tad bit ugly."

James laughed again. And that was how they entered the Great Hall, both of them smiling and laughing at Lily's joke.

They stopped when they heard silence all around them. They looked around, confused, to see every pair of eyes in the place focused on them, and quite a few mouths gaping open in shock.

And then Sirius wolf-whistled and it was like unleashing the tides. The whole hall erupted into cheers and laughter and whistling. Lily blushed crimson and hurried to her seat while James scowled at everyone.

Sirius clapped him on the back. "Good job Prongs. You finally got her. Now tell me, how was she?"

James hit him in the arm. "Nothing happened Padfoot. We were just talking, until you lot had to go and ruin it."

Sirius looked perplexed. "But… I don't understand… you were _laughing_, and you came in together, and she wasn't trying to hex you to pieces…"

James sighed. "Why is it so difficult to believe that we're just being friendly towards each other?"

"Because you've been trying to snog her for seven years, four of those you've spent trying to get in her pants."

"I'm not trying to get in her pants." James said, blushing and lying horribly. "I mean, that would be brilliant, but I'm just trying to be nicer. I think she might like me more if she got to know me, you know… the _real_ me."

Marlene leaned across the table and whispered quietly, "We think she does like you."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not. Lily fancies you, James. Now don't muck it up. Don't ask her out right away, I know you want to, but don't. She's still confused, and she still thinks she hates you. Give her a few days to get acclimated to her new feelings, then ask her to Hogsmede."

James sighed. "Boy, you birds sure are confusing."

Marlene shrugged. "I don't think that's it. I think boys are just too daft to figure us out."

"I am offended by that." Sirius said, glaring at Marlene. "I think I am a very good judge of women."

"Oh you think so, do you?" Marlene looked doubtful. "Then how come you can't get Hestia to date you? She's mad about you, you just can't figure out the right way to get her."

Sirius leaned across the table, closer to Marlene so Hestia wouldn't hear him. "She's mad about me? How do you know? What can I do to get her to go out with me?"

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Have you ever told her that you're interested in her? I mean, looked her in the eye, and told her, seriously, that you want to date her."

"No, I haven't."

"That's right. It's always jokes and flirting with the two of you. And Hestia's fine with that, but she wants a real, _adult_ relationship. And I don't mean a shag. I mean she wants emotion and feeling and all that mushy stuff too. You need to stop acting like a boy and be a man if you ever want to date her. Same goes for you James. Teasing and flirting is all fine and dandy, but you'll never be more than just a flirt buddy unless you man up."

Sirius and James stared at her, awed. "You should write a book." Marlene laughed. "No seriously," James continued, "how do you know so much about them?"

"I'm a girl too, remember? And I've lived with them for seven years. We know each other fairly well."

Sirius and James sat back on their bench, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Hestia leaned in to Marlene and asked, "What's wrong with them? They look like they just discovered the secret to winning every Quidditch match they ever play in."

Marlene looked slyly at the two men. "Something like that."

They finished up breakfast with no more talk about James and Lily's maybe-relationship. Lily and Marlene left the table before the Marauders and headed off to History of Magic with Professor Binns. Mary and Marlene were planning on using their free period to work on finishing Flitwick's essay, and maybe start on McGonagall's.

Remus, James, and Sirius were all still taking History of Magic, but poor Peter hadn't done well enough on his OWLs to be able to participate with his friends, though the rest of the Marauders all considered him very lucky to not have to deal with the dreary ghost.

Besides Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and History of Magic, James, Sirius, and Lily were also taking Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts, the other two classes required to become an Auror. Lily was taking History of Magic because she was a muggleborn, and found the class fascinating. James was taking the course because Lily was, and Sirius and Remus couldn't just leave their best friend alone with the dusty old professor. Not many students were taking the NEWT level course. In fact, it was basically just James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Marlene, and a few Ravenclaws.

Though Remus, Hestia, Mary, Marlene, and Peter were all planning to continue fighting off You-Know-Who after they left Hogwarts, none of them really wanted to be Aurors. And they knew there were plenty of ways to fight the Dark Arts without becoming an Auror. The friends all had plans to join the Order of the Phoenix, just as soon as they were out of school.

James, Sirius, and Remus entered History of Magic just as Professor Binns was telling everyone to sit down.

"Oh good, Perkins, Bloom, Lumpkin, you're not late yet. Please sit down and I'll get started." He said. James rolled his eyes. Seven years he's been taking the class, and still the ghost can't get his name right.

The three friends sat down, and James and Sirius prepared to sleep the whole lesson, while Remus would actually take notes. It seemed like he and Lily were the only two students who could stay awake long enough to retain any information. James and Sirius would have failed out of the class long ago, but Remus was an avid note-taker, and wasn't against letting them copy his essays.

It wasn't as if they didn't _try_ to focus, James really made an honest attempt to stay awake. But the window was open, and warm fall air was drifting inside tantalizingly. James breathed in deeply and allowed his mind to wander to his favourite topic: Lily.

He was watching her head bent low over her paper, scribbling quickly, trying to copy down every word Professor Binns said. Had James tried the same thing, he would have failed miserably. But this was Lily Evans. She could do anything if she just got it in her head that she wanted it done. James was always jealous of that quality.

James felt his eyes slide out of focus, watching Lily's red hair shine in the light. It was very interesting. When she tilted her head just slightly to the right, the sun hit it in such a way that it almost shone gold…

"Blotter?" James snapped his head up when the ghost said something that vaguely resembled his name. He looked around the classroom and blushed when he saw every single student staring at him like he had grown another head. He must have done something horribly embarrassing- Professor Binns never broke off from his lessons.

"Yes Professor?" He asked, afraid of the answer.

"Are you quite alright, Mr. Platter?"

"Yes Professor, I think so."

"It's the most curious thing, then, because I could have sworn I heard you groan. Do you have a stomach ache? Do you need to visit the Hospital Wing?"

James turned a deep crimson and glanced at Lily, who he saw was quite steadfastly not looking towards him. He had been looking at her and thinking of her when he groaned, and he was positive that it wasn't a groan of pain. "No Professor, I'll be fine."

Professor Binns nodded and then started reading his notes again, as if nothing had transpired. James heard a few snickers from the back of the class, and knew the Ravenclaws were laughing at him. He looked desperately towards Lily, wishing she would turn around so he could see if she was upset with him or not.

Sirius leaned over to him and said, in a carrying whisper, "You've got a little drool on your mouth, Prongs." James hastily wiped the side of his mouth and was mortified to find out that Sirius was telling the complete truth. Lily turned an even brighter shade of red, brushed her hair behind her ear, and bent lower towards her paper. Marlene next to her was whispering quickly, but Lily seemed to be ignoring her.

Suddenly James was forced to jerk his attention back to his surroundings, and not the redhead in front of him, when he heard chairs scraping the ground. Class was over, and everyone was leaving. James hurried out of the class, Sirius snickering behind him the whole way.

James hurried to Charms, his next class of the day, and tried not to turn around and yell at his 'best friend'. Remus seemed more sympathetic.

Because James was walking so quickly, he got to Charms a good ten minutes before class was set to start. No one else was there, not even Lily. She usually got to class before anyone else. James dropped his books on the desk he and Sirius usually shared, towards the back of the class. Sirius was still chuckling.

James found his temper running short, so he whipped around to face his friend, and huffed out, "What is so funny?"

"Only you could get hard in _Binns'_ class, Prongs."

James huffed. "I wasn't. No seriously, I wasn't! I was just… daydreaming…"

"Yeah, and drooling. I'm not sure how Evans feels, being your personal fantasy."

James grabbed Sirius by the collar of his robes and shook him. "Will you lay off?" He growled through his teeth. "Look, why can't you just leave me alone about Evans?"

"I don't think it's natural, the way you chase after her!"

"Of course you don't! You wouldn't know a relationship if it bit you on the arse!"

"And you would?" Sirius asked, pushing James off of him.

"I don't get girls just for the thrill, Padfoot! I don't snog them in broom cupboards! I want a relationship with Lily, I don't want a fling! Why can't you see that?"

Remus looked sadly between his two friends. He hated it when they fought. So he stepped between the two of them. "Look, you're both out of line. Sirius cut it out and let James love whomever he wants. And James, you're overreacting. Sirius is just being a prat and taking the mickey. Isn't that right Sirius?"

Both boys still seemed angry, but couldn't deny their friend's logic. They knew he was right in not wanting them to fight. They were like brothers. They had no business fighting.

"I'm sorry Prongs. He's right, I was being a prat."

"No, I'm a prat. I'm sorry I grabbed your robes."

Sirius shrugged it off. "It doesn't matter. We're still brothers, right?"

James nodded and grinned, holding his hand out to shake. "Brothers."

Sirius grasped his hand and then pulled him into a hug. When they pulled apart, Remus was smiling and looking happy with himself. James looked over Sirius' shoulder towards the door and saw Lily standing there, watching them with an odd expression on her face.

"Evans!" He said, a hand jerking up to run through his hair, as it often did around her. "How long have you been there?" He asked nervously.

She gazed at him, calculatingly, for a few more seconds before saying slowly, as if she was weighing her answer, "I just got here."

James nodded and cleared his throat, before sitting down swiftly. Sirius sat next to him. It was a true testament to their friendship that he didn't say anything loud or rude. Usually, Sirius loved embarrassing James in front of Lily, but today… today just felt different.

The rest of the students came in, oblivious to James or Lily's embarrassment. Peter came in flustered, because he _still_ hadn't been able to get Flitwick's essay done. That distracted James for a while.

When he looked back over at Lily, he saw her shaking her head firmly, a faint blush on her cheeks, as Hestia and Marlene whispered furiously at her.

Professor Flitwick came bustling in. "Alright class, settle down, settle down." He said, and everyone hurried to slip into seats and get quiet. "Today we're going to be doing the same thing as last class. I truly hope that more of you progress, and I have complete faith in you. And, if you work especially hard, we may even have a corporeal Patronus by the end of class!" His eyes shot to Lily, and then James excitedly.

"Now, I want you to split up into the same pairs and work as quickly as you can. I would have liked to have you practice in a real stress situation, because that is the key, really. It is one thing to be able to conjure a Patronus in this safe, brightly-lit classroom, and quite another when you're up against a Dementor. But obviously, we can't put children up against such creatures..." He trailed off and shuddered, as if recalling some terrible memory. Flitwick seemed to mentally shake himself, and looked up at his class, smiling weakly. "Well get to it!"

The class hurried to comply. James stood up and slowly made his way over to Lily. He stopped right in front of her, and she looked up at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Look, about History of Magic…"

She held up a hand, silencing him. "Save it Potter. I don't need your excuses, nor do I want them. Let's just work on the assignment and try not to kill each other." She stood up and walked to an empty corner of the classroom. James frowned after her. They had been getting along so well yesterday… and then he had to go and muck it up. He sighed, but followed her either way.

Lily was frowning into space, apparently deep in thought. James folded his arms across his chest and watched her. She seemed to decide upon something, because she raised her wand, and said firmly, "Expecto Patronum!" the usual dark, silver mist erupted, but nothing further. Lily sighed, frustrated.

It was James' turn. He picked out the first time he ever rode a broomstick. He tried the incantation, but nothing happened. He mentally blamed Lily. She was so infuriatingly _her_, looking the way she did, smelling like strawberries, and her nose was crinkled a little in concentration…

He hit himself on the head, trying to force her out of his head. She looked at him strangely. He cleared his throat and really focused. He could almost feel the wind in his hair, and smell the crisp winter air and pine trees in his backyard. He felt the familiar swooping sensation in his stomach and tried again. "Expecto Patronum!" he was rewarded with his own silver mist, but nothing more.

They alternated, back and forth, for a few more times, until finally…

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Lily cried forcefully. And suddenly something beautiful, silver, and _very_ solid shot out of her wand. It was medium-sized, four legged, and prancing around gaily.

The whole class fell silent and watched it. It trotted to a stop right in front of Lily, and James finally got a good look at it. His breath caught in his throat. It was a doe, the most beautiful doe he had ever seen.

Lily stuck her hand out towards it, but right before her hand touched its muzzle, it vanished. The whole classroom erupted into applause, all except James and Lily, both too dumbstruck to focus on anything.

"Oh well done Ms. Evans, well done! Oh, twenty points to Gryffindor! Oh that was perfect, really Ms. Evans, fantastic!" Flitwick scurried up to her excitedly and gripped her hand, shaking it up and down for all he was worth. "I don't think I've ever seen a student master the spell this quickly! Oh this is fantastic! Alright, the rest of you back to work! I think you should try again Ms. Evans, once the shock has worn off. It is quite an experience, seeing you Patronus for the first time."

"What do you mean, Professor?"

"Well, a Patronus is the embodiment of yourself. It is everything _you _symbolize, everything you could be. And it is made out of pure happiness. That is what makes it so effective. It acts as a shield, with the Dementors feeding off of its happy memories, rather than yours. But Dementors cannot weaken it, because it has nothing except happiness fueling it. That is what is so powerful about a Patronus. When I first saw mine, I felt rather like I had been struck in the stomach by a bludger. But that's just me." He said with a little chuckle. Lily smiled faintly.

"Excellent work Ms. Evans, really. Now hurry up, get back to work." He said as he walked over to help other students.

James finally made eye contact with Lily. "Good job, Evans." He said quietly. "It was beautiful."

She smiled at him. "Thanks Potter. I guess it's your turn."

"Evans, I need a favor. Well, not a favor, per se, but I need something from you."

"What is it?"

"This may sound mad, but can you meet me by the Whomping Willow tonight, say ten o'clock?"

Lily looked confused and skeptical. "Why?"

"I need to show you something." She looked very reluctant. "Look, I know I'm not your favourite person, and I know you don't exactly trust me, Merlin knows I can't blame you, but please, it's really important. Look, bring whatever you need to make you feel safe. Come with your wand drawn, and tell as many people as you want where you're going, just make sure you're there, and that you come alone."

Lily opened her mouth to ask him what the bloody hell he was on about, but Flitwick said loudly, "That's the end of class! Remember, essays are due on Monday! Have a nice day!"

James had grabbed his things and was out of the classroom before Lily even registered that he wasn't next to her. She frowned after him. What was he on about? Why did he want her to meet him? What was he planning? And most importantly, was she going to meet him? As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she was going to meet him at the Whomping Willow, because deep down (not quite as deep as she would like) Lily Evans felt something other than hatred for James Potter, and it scared her to death.

Out in the hall, James was hurrying down towards the kitchens. "PRONGS! Prongs wait up!" Sirius called behind him, and James slowed just enough that his friend could run and catch up with him. "Merlin, where's the fire? Come on, we're going to be late for lunch."

"I'm not going to lunch."

Sirius stopped walking abruptly. James turned and looked at him. Sirius was gaping at him as if he had just announced that he wanted to teach Trolls ballet after he graduated. "You're _what?_"

"I'm not going to lunch. Merlin Padfoot, try and keep up." And James started walking briskly again. Sirius ran to catch up.

"And may I ask why you are skipping the most important meal of the day?" Sirius asked, shocked.

James rolled his eyes. "To you Padfoot, every meal is the most important meal of the day."

"That's because all meals are important! And I don't like picking favourites! But that's neither here nor there. Why aren't you eating lunch?"

"I don't want to run into Evans."

"And why not? I thought you loved running into her. In fact, we are taking a completely bullshit class just so that you _can_ run into Evans more often."

"I don't want to run into her. Look, I'll explain when we get there."

"Get where?"

"The kitchens. You didn't think I was going to skip a meal, did you? Blimey Padfoot, I thought we knew each other."

Sirius sighed in relief. "Oh thank Merlin. I thought you'd cracked."

"Nope." James said, popping the 'P'. "I cracked a long time ago."

Sirius grinned. "That you have."

They reached the portrait of the fruit bowl, and James reached out and tickled the pear. It giggled before opening slowly to reveal the bustling kitchen, house elves running everywhere, trying to get the food to the right places. Lunch was just about to start.

A little elf ran up to them and hugged James' legs tightly. "Hello Master Potter! What can Tully do for you Master Potter?"

"Hello Tully. Can you bring us some lunch, please? We would really appreciate that." James smiled down fondly at the elf.

"Right away, Master Potter, Master Black." She squeaked and bowed so low her nose almost brushed the ground.

James and Sirius sat down at a convenient table while house elves bustled around them. Most were working on sending the food up to the Great Hall, but the others were attending to James and Sirius, bringing by plates and plates of food, trying to force more into their stomachs, and offering drinks left and right.

James and Sirius dug into the fabulous food, and had started on dessert before Sirius remembered the conversation in the hall. "Smph whai arrggh vuu arroillin Evnns?" Sirius asked around a mouthful of treacle tart.

"I can't understand a bloody word you just said Padfoot." James said, not even looking up from his food.

Sirius swallowed thickly. "So why are you avoiding Evans?" he repeated.

"Her Patronus is a doe." James said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah…. I was there too, but I'm not avoiding her. What's that got to do with anything?"

James rolled his eyes. "Her Patronus is a _doe_, Padfoot."

"Yes, I heard you the first time."

"And what do I turn into when I'm an Animagus?" James asked slowly.

"A… stag?" Sirius said as if it were a question.

"Merlin Padfoot, you've been running around with me when I'm an animal for four years, I thought you would have known what I turn into!"

"I do! But you're sounding so convinced that I should be understanding something that I clearly don't understand!"

"A stag is the male version of what animal?" James asked, addressing Sirius like a very young child.

"A… a doe?" he answered/asked.

James nodded. "Very good. And what is Evans' Patronus?"

"A doe." Sirius said. James nodded slowly, and suddenly Sirius understood. "Wait, so her Patronus is the female version of you?"

"And he's finally got it!" James said, a little loudly.

"So, you think that because her Patronus is the female you, that…"

"That we're meant to be together."

"So why are you avoiding her?"

"Because I don't want her asking me any questions about tonight."

"What's tonight?"

"Tonight is when I prove to Evans that we're meant to be together."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm going to show her what I turn into."

Sirius dropped his fork (and his jaw) and stared at his best friend. "I'm sorry; I must have something in my ear. I thought I just heard you say that you're going to _tell Evans that you're a bloody unregistered Animagus_. Please tell me I made that up."

James shook his head. "Nope. I'm really going to tell her."

"You're out of your bloody mind!"

James looked affronted. "No I'm not. I'm perfectly sane."

"No you're bloody not! Because if you were sane, you would see how ridiculous this plan is! You can't tell her! Then you'll have to tell her about Remus, and what we all do, and you can't do that! It's not your secret to tell. And we all promised we wouldn't say a word!"

"Merlin Padfoot, she already knows about Moony."

"WHAT?" Sirius yelled, standing up in outrage. "YOU TOLD HER?"

"Of course I didn't! But she's the smartest witch in the school; do you honestly think she hasn't figured it out? I reckon she figured it out around our third year."

Sirius slumped back in his seat. She probably had figured out, just like him and James and Peter in their second year. "You still can't tell her."

"Why not?"

"What do you think it's going to do, James? What will it accomplish?"

"It'll show her that we're perfect for each other!"

"You're crazy! You think that you turning into a stag in front of her is going to make her change the way she thinks about you? You're still you, and she's still her, no matter what her Patronus is!"

James was stubborn. "I'm telling her Padfoot, whether you like it or not."

"Well I don't like it! What if she tells? We could go to Azkaban, James."

"She won't tell! I trust her with my life."

"But I don't! This doesn't just affect you, it's all of us. We run around with a bloody werewolf once a month, I don't think that's exactly the example Dumbledore wants us to be setting!"

"We'll be fine Sirius. I trust Evans. But I need to tell her. This could be the start of our relationship. We just need that last push."

"No, James."

James stood up and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Padfoot, she's _the one_. I know she is."

"You're not even dating her!"

"I've been after her for seven years! Sirius, I'm in love with her. Please, I can't stand any more of this chasing after her! I can't get over her, no matter how hard I try. And the truth is that I don't _want_ to get over her. I want to be with her. And this is just what she needs to see that! Come on, I have to tell her. I don't want to fight with you about this, but I _will _tell her, no matter what you think."

Sirius looked at him for quite a while, before sighing and shaking his head. "You had to go fall in love, didn't you? You just had to go and be in love with _Lily Evans_."

James grinned. "So you're okay with me telling her?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's your neck. But you better not tell her about me, or Wormtail. That's not part of this James; we're not part of this. You leave us out of it."

James nodded, still grinning. "Thanks Padfoot." He pulled Sirius into a tight hug, but Sirius shoved him off quickly.

"Sometimes I can't tell if you're a bloody girl or not Prongs."

James roared with laughter before picking up his bag and leaving the kitchen with Sirius, after saying goodbye to Tully first, of course.

They hurried to their next class, double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. James didn't know how he was going to avoid Lily all day, because she was bound to ask him questions about what he needed to show her, and where he was during lunch. She didn't disappoint.

As soon as he set foot in Greenhouse 7, Lily was firing questions at him. He answered the ones he could politely and blatantly ignored the ones he couldn't. She was growing more and more frustrated with him by the minute.

Right as he thought she was going to crack and hex him, Professor Graceworth walked in, and James was saved. They were working with bubotubers today, and James didn't know whether to be thankful or not.

On the one hand, it was a dangerous plant, and he needed complete focus working with it (and so did Lily). But on the other hand, it was a dangerous plant, and he needed complete focus working with it. He was wearing his dragon-hide gloves so as not to get any of the pus on his skin. If it came in contact with skin, bubotuber pus was known to cause severe irritation, such as boils. James did not fancy spending the afternoon in the Hospital Wing, getting painful warts removed from his hands and/or arms.

Herbology was long and tiring, and by the end James really needed a shower. It seemed like everyone was feeling the same. Luckily, none of the seventh years had gotten any of it on them, so there were no trips to the Hospital Wing.

James wanted nothing more than to take a long, hot shower. Unfortunately, he shared a bathroom with Lily, and she was likely to get back to it first and take the shower. Maybe he could ask to share with her… no-that would likely earn him a slap, and possibly a good kick in the nether regions, depending on how sour of a mood she was in. And judging by the way she practically attacked the bubotuber vine when it reached out towards her, it was a very sour mood indeed.

James sighed as he entered their shared Common Room and heard the telltale sign of a shower going on. James sat on the couch, dirty self and all, and prepared to wait it out. Maybe that would make Lily even angrier. She hated when he got dirt on things.

And why would James Potter want to get Lily Evans angry, you may ask? Well, the answer was quite simple. He thought she was dead sexy when she was mad at him. Her eyes flashed with a fire born from unbridled fury, and her hair always looked a little ruffled. And also, there was nothing quite as satisfying as a verbal spar with Lily Evans. She would put her hands on her hips, and her chest would flare out with indignation. He'd had to disappear to the loo quite a few times after their arguments to… take care of himself…

It was highly embarrassing, and he had never told anyone about it, least of all Lily. She loved fighting with him, and he loved arguing with her, but he felt it was for _completely_ different reasons.

He heard the shower switch off, and suddenly he was struck with an image of a very wet, very naked Lily toweling herself dry. James shifted in his seat and was suddenly very happy he would soon be in the shower. A very cold shower seemed in order…

Merlin, this was almost worse than the time he had walked in on her in her towel. He had needed four cold showers after that, and still the image haunted his dreams. She had yelled at him, it's true, and shot curses at his back as he ran out of the room apologizing, but he couldn't get that image of her out of his head. If he had just walked in forty seconds earlier…

But he refused to think about that. Instead, when he heard Lily exit the bathroom he jumped up and ran in, making sure to lock both doors, before turning the shower on as cold as it would go and jumping in.

After he was clean and changed (and otherwise back to normal) James left his room and went out to the Common Room. Lily was there, sitting, working on an essay, and angry about something or other. Most likely it was something he had done.

James thought he was correct in this assumption when she didn't acknowledge him as he sat and pulled out his essay from McGonagall. He was about halfway done with it, and couldn't remember the last time he had finished an assignment so early. But it gave him an excuse to sit near Lily. Maybe they weren't talking, but sometimes that was best. Not talking was better than fighting, then having her storm off and not look at him for a week. Yes, not talking was definitely much better.

So they worked in a silence that was only broken by the scratching of quills against parchment and the odd rustling of a book page.

Suddenly their portrait hole banged open, and Hestia came storming in. "LILY EVANS I NEED TO- oh, hello James." She cut off, seeing him for the first time.

"Can we help you with something?" James asked politely.

"No, not you. I just need a word with Lily." Hestia smiled broadly at him while she gripped Lily's arm tightly and yanked her up and into her room.

"OW! Hestia, what the hell?"

"Stop complaining you big baby. I need to talk to you."

Hestia dragged Lily into her room and slammed the door shut. James immediately jumped up and ran, shoving his ear against the door. Good, they had forgotten silencing charms.

Inside the room Lily was sitting on her bed, with Hestia standing impassively in front of her. It was much the same situation as the previous night, except without Mary and Marlene.

"What is it Hestia?" Lily asked with a sigh, knowing what was coming.

"You're not telling me something. I know it. You have 'Lily-pensive-face' on, and you know I hate that face."

"There's nothing to tell. It's just Ja-Potter, messing with my head."

Hestia's eyes bulged. "You were about to call him James."

Lily blushed. "Yeah, well we've been trying to be more civil towards each other."

Hestia snorted. "Yeah, I can tell, what with him drooling over you in History of Magic."

"You don't know he was drooling over me. He could have just been dreaming."

"About you."

Lily glared at her friend. "He was just sleeping. And it's not like he hasn't stared at me before. This is nothing new."

"Well what about in Charms class? Did you see his face after he saw your Patronus? I've never seen someone look more surprised or shocked in my life."

"I don't know what that was about. But he asked me to meet him by the Whomping Willow tonight. He said he has to show me something."

"HE WHAT? Are you going?"

"Of course I'm going."

Hestia squealed. "You're going to snog him."

"No I'm not. He said he had to show me something. I don't know what it is, but I'm not going to snog him."

"Oh please Lily, a blind, deaf, and mute person could see through this. He wants to snog you. Do you seriously think he's taking you out of the castle in the dead of night to 'show you something'?"

Lily was quiet for a few minutes. "He told me that I could tell as many people as I wanted where we were going, and that I could come with whatever I needed to feel safe, so long as I came alone."

"Yeah, he's going to snog you alright."

Lily looked coolly at Hestia. "If he tries to snog me, I'll hex his bits off."

Outside the door James winced. Yes, he would love to snog Lily, but he honestly needed to show her something. Damn Hestia Jones for planting these thoughts in her head.

He didn't hear anything else from inside the room, until he heard footsteps headed towards the door. James panicked, and flung himself over the back of the couch so he was sprawled on it, on his back.

Lily's bedroom door opened, and Lily and Hestia walked out, both looking a right side better than they did when they went in.

Lily went around the couch to her homework and frowned at James' sprawled figure. "Shove over."

James hastened to do so, straightening up so he was sitting. Lily sat on the opposite end of the couch and went back to her essay. Hestia plopped herself in one of the plush armchairs by the fire and kept glancing between James and Lily suspiciously. Both pretended not to notice her.

"You done with those essays yet, Lils?"

"Just about. You?"

Hestia snorted. "Not a chance. I've barely even scratched Flitwick's."

Lily frowned down at her paper. "You need to work on them Hestia. It's NEWT year, this stuff is only going to get harder."

"I know, I know, but right now I really can't be bothered." Hestia leaned over to see how much Lily had written. "Are you mental? That's way more than fifteen inches! Are you seriously writing _more_ than the required amount?"

Lily shrugged. "I had a lot to say. Animagi really are fascinating."

"How so?" Hestia asked icily. "I think it's creepy, to tell you the truth. I mean, people who can turn into animals…" Hestia shuddered.

"Do you have any idea how complicated this sort of thing is? It takes _years_ for an adult wizard to be able to become an Animagus, and that's not including the paperwork. It's incredibly complicated magic. And also, it's not like you get to choose the animal you turn into. It's based off of your personality, your ambitions, etc. much like a Patronus, actually. And there's actually been some research to find the correlation between Patronus forms and Animagus forms."

Hestia yawned in boredom.

"Fine, you don't have to care, but I for one would love to meet an Animagus one day. You know, one that's not McGonagall."

James listened to this whole exchange with his heart in his throat, looking down at his paper, but with his eyes unfocused. Lily found them _fascinating_. Maybe telling her really was a brilliant idea. She wouldn't be repulsed by him.

Hestia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm still unnerved by it. Do you think all Animagi are like McGonagall?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well do they all turn into cats?"

"Honestly Hestia, didn't you pay attention to the lesson?" Hestia shrugged. "No, to answer your question, they don't. Merlin, I feel like I just went over this… but no, they all turn into different things. It can be any animal, really. Wolves, dogs, cats, mice, birds, bugs, bears, tigers-"

"Hold on, did you say _bugs_?" Lily nodded. "That's vulgar! Who would want to turn into a bug?"

Lily shrugged. "It's not personal choice. It's whatever your personality is most like."

Hestia just stared at her friend. "Like a Patronus?"

"Yes, just like that."

"So do different Patronuses mean different things?"

"Yes, and I've actually been researching that. For example the deer, either the doe or the stag, stands for love, grace, peace, beauty, humility, creativity, loyalty, and benevolence."

Hestia stared at her friend. "That's brilliant! That sounds just like you. Wow, so your Patronus can really say all that about you?" Lily nodded. "Fantastic! Now I actually want to write this essay."

Lily grinned at her friend. "See, school can _actually_ teach you something."

James smiled inwardly. All of those things described Lily perfectly. Suddenly he had an idea. "What about the dog?"

"I'm sorry?" Lily asked, looking at James for the first time since Herbology. It was the first he had spoken in an hour.

"What does the dog symbolize?"

Lily flipped through her book and read, "The dog Patronus is a symbol of courage, vigilance, loyal fidelity, faithfulness, and guardianship. The dog tells one that the caster is a fierce friend, who would gladly put themselves in front of their friends rather than see them hurt."

James grinned through the whole reading. "That's Sirius alright."

"How do you know what Sirius' Patronus is? He hasn't been able to make one." Hestia said, confused.

"Does this have something to do with tonight?" Lily asked.

James nodded. "I promised him I would leave him out of it. But I'll explain as much as I can tonight, I promise."

"Why can't you just tell me here?"

James shook his head. "I need to tell you tonight, in private. Please Lily, just wait another…" he glanced at his watch, "three and a half hours, and it will all make sense. Now, are we going to go down to dinner?" he asked. The two witches nodded and stood up.

"I'm going to catch up with Sirius," Hestia said, "I need to ask him about the Half-over play you want us to do for the next Quidditch game, James."

James and Lily nodded and Hestia ran off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"So about tonight…"

"I still won't tell you Evans. You have to show up to find out. And you can't tell anyone, not even Hestia, what I tell you."

"What is this? Now I have to be sworn to secrecy?"

"I'm serious Lily. I could get into serious trouble."

"What is it Potter? Are you in trouble with the law or something?"

James shook his head. "I hate not answering you Lily, but I can't right now, alright?"

"Fine." They walked in silence for a few steps. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Why do you call me 'Evans' sometimes and 'Lily' others? Every time you're trying to poke fun at me, it's 'Evans this' or 'Evans that', and then every once in a while, when something serious happens, you call me Lily."

James shrugged. "Calling you Lily is more serious, that's why I do it. I don't mean to, it just happens." Lily nodded. "You can call me James, you know."

She shook her head. "I can't do that Potter. We're not friends."

"But we're _friendly_, isn't that close enough?"

She shook her head again. "You annoy me to no end Potter. There are times that I can't bloody stand you. But then there are others where you actually seem decent. There are times that you're nice, and sweet as can be. But I can't call you James, because no matter what you do now, I can't forget the first six years that I knew you, where you were horrible to me. I'm sorry Potter, but I just can't do it."

"Please Lily." He stopped her right outside the Great Hall and grasped her hands. "Please, just once."

She looked into his hazel eyes and was struck with how much raw emotion she saw there. He looked _vulnerable_, which is something Lily had never seen before. "I'm sorry James. But this is the last time."

She slowly pulled her hands out of his and hurried into the Great Hall so she wouldn't have to see the hurt in his eyes any longer.

James stood in the entrance way for another few minutes, trying to pull himself together. Maybe after tonight she would change her mind. James had never hated himself more for how he had treated her before than right now. It was because of his prat younger self that Lily was refusing to be cordial to him. She had admitted herself how much he had changed in the past year. But because he was a prick before, she wouldn't acknowledge that he was a different person. He growled in frustration, ran his fingers through his hair roughly, and went into the Hall to join his friends. He didn't look at Lily, and she didn't look at him. Instead they both talked in their own groups and didn't acknowledge what had happened before.

James was determined to change her mind. He wasn't completely sure how he was going to do it, but after tonight she would see that what he felt for her was real. And he would have laid his heart on the line. Whether she accepted it or not… he couldn't be sure. But at the very least, he would know that he had tried absolutely everything. After tonight, if she still didn't accept him, then he would try and move on for real. Though James knew it would be impossible, he would try as hard as he could. Because all he really wanted was Lily happy. And if she wasn't happy with him, then he would rather she be with anyone else in the world, than with him and miserable.

All this was floating through James' head through dinner. Sirius kept shooting him worried glances. Finally, Sirius couldn't take the brooding any longer. "Come on Prongs, what's wrong?"

"I don't know how to tell her."

"Well I can't help you. This is something you have to do on your own. But no matter what happens, you still have us."

James nodded, but suddenly he had lost his appetite. He pushed his food around on his plate for a few more minutes, before finally realizing that any hope of eating was pointless. He stood up and made to leave the Great Hall. Before he did, however, he went over to stand behind Lily. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Ten o'clock." She nodded infinitesimally, and he straightened and walked out.

Lily breathed in deeply, James' scent still lingering around her. She gulped. She was in way over her head.

When dinner was over Lily hurried back to her Common Room, with Hestia running along behind her, trying to get her to slow down. Lily burst through the door and looked around frantically. James wasn't in there. She ran over to his room and pounded on the door. "Potter! Open up!" There was no answer, so she opened to door and peeked inside. For a boy's room, it was surprisingly organized, but still no James.

"Lily, are you crazy? What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Potter. No, wait, I don't want to find Potter. I need to think. No, I need to talk to him, no… GAHH!" she yelled in frustration, gripping her head. "I'm so bloody confused!"

Hestia grabbed her friend and steered her gently towards the couch. "Sit, relax, and don't worry. I think the whole point of tonight is that you won't be confused anymore. And you only have to wait two hours. Don't think so much Lily, you over think things far too often. Go meet Potter, keep an open mind, and for Merlin's sake don't use your brain!"

Lily nodded. "Right, right I can do this. Besides, I'm dead curious about what he's going to show me. I could think about that instead."

"Yes, good Lily. Do that." So Lily and Hestia spent the next two hours trying to figure out what James was going to show Lily. Everything Hestia came up with was sexual, so Lily had trouble coming up with any _actual _possibilities.

And finally it was 9:50, and Lily could go down to the Whomping Willow. "Alright, I'm going. You can stay here or not Hestia, it doesn't matter, but I don't know how long I'm going to be."

"If I were you I'd go down there with my wand drawn. And don't shag the bloke!" Hestia called after Lily as she left the room. Lily snorted in laughter but didn't respond.

She hurried down and got to the Whomping Willow a few minutes before 10. She made sure she steered clear of the swinging branches. Luckily, James was already there.

"Alright Potter I'm here, now what do you need to show me?"

"I can't show you here."

"Then what the bloody hell am I doing here?"

James pulled out his wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." A small twig that was on the ground floated into the air, and James directed it towards the tree. It was small enough that the branches didn't try to swing at it. The stick hit a rather large knot on the trunk of the tree and it froze. Lily just watched in amazement.

"Come on, we only have a few seconds." James grabbed her hand and pulled her forwards. As they got closer, Lily could see a hole under the tree.

"No, no way am I going down there."

"You have to. Come on Lily, please. LOOK OUT!" One of the branches was swinging towards them. James shoved Lily into the hole and she slid down.

She heard a THUMP and a grunt of pain from up above before James came hurtling down the passageway as if thrown. He slid into Lily and knocked her flat on her back, with him lying on top of her, his chest pressing into hers. She groaned. "Ouch."

"I'm sorry Evans. I guess we weren't fast enough."

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" she asked as she pushed him off of her and sat up. It was a good thing she didn't try to stand, because otherwise she would have smacked her head on the low ceiling. James was standing, but he was almost completely doubled over to avoid knocking into the ceiling.

"We just come back this way, I stick my hand out and hit the knot, and then we run. It's simple."

"Why did you drag me down here? Where does this go?"

"You'll see. Come on, follow me." James slid past her and started walking, lighting his wand with a whispered, "Lumos."

They walked for about a minute before Lily saw a dim light up a head. James kept walking purposefully towards it.

They emerged into an old room, the walls and floor bare wood. There were a few pieces of furniture scattered around the place, all scratched and a few completely demolished. Lily looked around, a little scared.

"Where are we?"

"The Shrieking Shack." James said nonchalantly.

"WHAT?" Lily practically screamed. "This place is haunted!"

"Oh it's haunted alright, but not by ghosts. This is where Remus comes to transform."

Lily's eyes bulged at the revelation. "I'd always wondered." She said quietly. "I didn't think they would keep him on school grounds; its' too dangerous. But… goodness… he's not exactly a pleasant werewolf, is he?" she asked, looking around and assessing the damage.

"Oh he's perfectly fine once he gets a few hours in. He's actually quite friendly." James answered without even thinking.

"Potter, how do you know what he's like during his transformations?"

James took a deep breath. "That's what I'm here to tell you about. Can you turn around?"

"Why do I need to turn around?"

"Because I need to take my clothes off."

"You _what_?"

"No, wait… that sounded bad. Look, take my wand if you want." He held his wand out to her and she took it slowly. "I promise you, it will all make sense in just a few seconds. If you don't want to turn around, feel free to watch."

He started to strip his clothes off, dropping his robe and loosening his tie. He started to unbutton his shirt and Lily just watched it all with an open mouth. She glimpsed his toned chest and muscular stomach before she started blushing and turned around quickly. "I swear to Merlin Potter, if you touch me…"

"Yes, yes I know, you'll hex my bits off and do some other ghastly thing to me. Don't worry, I'll stay away. Now, I'm naked, so please don't turn around. What I want you to do is count to ten, out loud, and then turn around. It may surprise you, but I need you to know that it's still me."

"What are you talking about Potter?"

"Count to ten, Lily."

She placed his wand on the couch before beginning to count. "One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten." Lily whipped around and opened her mouth to ask James another question, but the words got stuck in her throat.

Because James wasn't in front of her anymore, instead, exactly where he had been standing was a huge male deer. It had large antlers, big hoofs, and round, hazel eyes.

"James?" She breathed out, walking cautiously towards it. The stag bowed its head once, as if it were nodding. "That's really you?" it made the same bowing movement.

She reached her hand slowly, as if to touch his muzzle, before she quickly withdrew her hand. "May I?" She asked. She got another nod in encouragement.

Lily reached her hand out and placed it softly on the stag's nose. He closed his eyes and nuzzled more firmly into her palm. She stroked him lightly, mouth open in awe. "I can't believe this." She breathed out. "You're an Animagus." He didn't need to nod this time. It was a rhetorical question, and he understood that.

"Can you turn back into a human?" he nodded. "Can I watch?" another nod. James backed away from Lily. She took a few steps back as well.

Him changing back into a human was bizarre, even for magical standards. The deer seemed to be shrinking down, the legs and antlers retracting, black hair shooting out of its head. In just a few seconds, the stag had transformed into James Potter, a very naked James Potter, crouched on the ground.

"Can you turn around Lily?" he asked quietly. She hastened to comply. She heard clothes rustling behind her, and neither she nor James said anything. "It's safe." He said after about a minute.

Lily turned around and looked at James long and hard. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

She held a hand up, silencing him. "You're an Animagus." He nodded. "An unregistered Animagus." Another nod. "And I'm guessing Sirius and Peter are as well?" He didn't answer her. "That's right; you promised you wouldn't tell me about them. So that's what those ridiculous nicknames are about then, right? You're Prongs, because of the antlers. I won't even guess about the others. You run around with a werewolf once a month, putting yourself in horrible danger. See, all of this I get. It's stupid as hell, but it's so very _you_. You'd do anything for your friends; it's something I've always admired about you.

"So I understand why you're an Animagus. I can't say I agree with it, but I get it. The only thing I don't get is _why_? Why did you tell me about it, now of all times?"

"Because your Patronus is a doe."

"So what?"

"Lily, your Patronus is a _doe_."

"I heard you the first time Potter. I still don't get what that has to do with anything."

"A stag is a male deer. A doe is a female deer. Don't you get it? Your Patronus is the female version of me!" Lily stared at him. He felt like he wasn't doing a good job explaining himself. "Lily, you have to see it now. Come on, you have to see that we're meant to be together! Look, it makes perfect sense! I turn into a stag, and your Patronus is a doe."

"No, James, it doesn't mean anything! It's a coincidence, just a coincidence!"

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" he asked her imploringly.

She stood up a little straighter. "Yes I do."

"No you don't! Come on Lily, you know that somewhere deep down, it might be miles down, but it's there, you know that you feel _something_ for me. It's not loathing, it's not hatred, but it's _something_. You have to give us a chance, please Lily."

She looked up into his eyes. "I can't do it James. I can't see it."

He growled in frustration before making a decision. He strode over to her quickly, and she reacted instinctively, backing up until her back hit the wall. And then James kissed her. He didn't kiss her slowly or sweetly, it was rough, and passionate. And Lily kissed him back, tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer to her.

He was pushing into her roughly, forcing her into the wall. His tongue invaded her mouth and Lily made a satisfied noise in the back of her throat. His hands were on her waist, gripping her tightly, never wanting to let go.

Finally they got to the point where they couldn't go any longer without air. So James pulled back. Not far enough to distance their bodies, but far enough so that he could rest his forehead against hers and take a few deep breaths.

"If you tell me you didn't feel anything in that kiss, then you're not only lying to me, but you're lying to yourself."

She took a few deep breaths and looked into his eyes. She could see the emotion behind them, and she could feel the emotion in her own body, making her heartbeat speed up faster than it's ever been. He stomach was in knots, and she knew that she was feeling a strong attraction for James Potter. But she was afraid of it.

So she pushed him off of her, a little roughly. Shock and hurt was written all over his face, and he reached out for her, and said, "Lily…" But she didn't wait, or look at him anymore. Instead she ran out of the Shrieking Shack as fast as she could, slipping a few times in the passageway. She didn't hear James following her, and she couldn't tell if she was happy or upset about that.

She remembered what James had said about how to get out, so she stuck her head out cautiously and hit the knot that he had, and sure enough the tree froze. She didn't waste any time like she had previously. Instead she ran. She ran for all she was worth.

She sprinted away from the tree, away from James, away from the feelings that had been uprooted, and back into the castle. She'd never run so fast in her life. She ran into the Head's room, and then off into her own bedroom. She was relieved that Hestia hadn't decided to wait around. Instead she locked her door and threw herself onto her bed, still completely dressed.

A few minutes later she heard the door open and running footsteps. Someone tried her door, and finding it locked, they started pounding on it. "LILY! LILY PLEASE! TALK TO ME!" James called desperately through the door. She didn't respond.

James took the hint, instead going off into his own room. Lily didn't know how long she lay on her bed staring at the door, but it felt like an eternity. She was confused, beyond anything else. James' Animagus form was the male version of her Patronus. She knew that Patronus and Animagus forms had a connection, hadn't she been reading about that very thing only this afternoon? She knew James was right, and that scared her.

He was right about them having some kind of connection. Things like this didn't just _happen_ in real life. She would have to do some reading about it.

Then there was the whole thing about him running around with Remus during his transformations. Lily knew they were tight friends, but that was incredibly dangerous! He was putting himself at risk, and not only that, but the other students! They couldn't have a werewolf running around the grounds once a month! And James could get seriously hurt, or he could be scratched or bitten, and transformed into a werewolf himself. There's a difference between taking risks and putting oneself in mortal danger.

And then, after Lily had thought about those topics as much as she could, her brain turned to the one she had been steadfastly avoiding. James had _kissed_ her. James Potter had kissed _her._ And she had kissed him _back!_

It was one thing that he had basically attacked her, but she had attacked him right back! And (though Lily refused to admit it to herself) it was the best kiss she had ever had. It was certainly the most passionate. And it left her with the strangest feeling in her stomach, like butterflies and knots all at once. She felt breathless, and like she was about to vomit, though she knew she wouldn't.

It was happening. The thing that everyone saw coming, the inevitable, but the thing that she swore would never happen. Lily was falling for James. She didn't want to be, but at the same time, it felt wonderful.

Lily tossed and turned for another hour thinking about James and how she felt about him. She thought about what she had felt after the kiss, and all the things it could mean, besides actual attraction, but she couldn't think of anything. He was a prat, but not so much anymore, if she really thought about it. And he was devilishly handsome. And based on the little peek of his body she'd had tonight, he was fit.

Lily finally fell into a fitful sleep with strange but wonderful dreams. They were dreams filled with silver does, soft fur, a large stag, and a semi-naked James Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't believe I've ever seen a case like this. There are rumors that say that two people with corresponding Patronus shapes are _meant to be_. I never put much stock in it. But perhaps, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, you are more connected than you realize."

A Silver Doe and a Stag Marauder

Lily slowly blinked open her eyes, awaking from the strange but wonderful dream from the previous night. Instead of helping her sort out her feelings, last night's encounter with James had only left her dazed and confused. Lily hated being confused.

Just then, Lily realized what had woken her up. Someone was pounding on her bedroom door. Lily sat up in bed, but made no move to unlock it. She assumed it was James, and after last night (and her dream), Lily had no desire to see him, at least not until she could muck out what exactly she was feeling.

She felt a strange giddiness whenever she thought about him, and unlike previous years, she was actually enjoying his company most of the time. He was funny, and he could hold a conversation with her. Strangest of all was that if she thought about it, Lily really _didn't_ want to avoid James. She wanted to see him, she wanted to talk to him, and she wanted to hold his hand…

Lily shook her head to expel these dangerous thoughts. She didn't need to be thinking about doing _anything_ even vaguely romantic with James. If only he would stop banging on her door…

"LILY! It's me, open up!" a voice that was very familiar, and very much not James Potter, yelled at the door. Lily jumped up and hurried to get the door open for her friend.

Apparently Hestia was leaning against the door, because when Lily unlocked it and threw it open Hestia came stumbling into the room. She straightened herself out and glared at the redhead. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, locking your bedroom door?"

"I thought you were Potter."

Hestia raised her eyebrows and waggled them at Lily. "And why would James be bursting into your room very early in the morning?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "If you must know I had it locked from last night. James… well he… he explained some things to me and… and I… well it was all very confusing and I… I ran away and hid in here."

Hestia nodded, as if this were all a completely normal occurrence. "Tell me."

Lily shook her head. "That's what sucks Hestia. I can't. I can't tell you what he told me, because if I did… it would all be very bad for a lot of people."

"Tell me it's not illegal."

"I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry." Lily sat back down on her bed and hid her face in her hands. She hated keeping anything from Hestia. The two were best friends, and confided everything in each other.

Hestia sat down next to Lily and sighed, trying desperately to quell her curiosity. If Lily couldn't tell her something, then it must be serious.

Lily's head shot up. Well if she couldn't tell Hestia about James being an Animagus, she could at least let her know about the snogging. "Potter kissed me." She said, trying to sound nonchalant and not betraying the fact that her heart rate had sped up tenfold when she thought about the breathtaking kiss from last night.

Hestia didn't speak for a few seconds, and then laughed. "I'm sorry. I must have heard you wrong. For a second there I thought I was going crazy. I could have sworn I heard you say that Potter kissed you."

Lily nodded. "You heard me right. He kissed me. And I kissed him back."

Hestia blinked at Lily for a few seconds, her face slipping from laughter, to emotionless, to disbelief, and finally to disgust mixed with awe. "YOU WHAT?" She screamed, leaping off of Lily's bed in shock.

"I've already told you twice Hestia. Merlin, maybe you do need your ears checked."

"Don't you dare be cute with me, Lily Marie! And don't you dare point out that that rhymed! How could you? I thought you hated him! What the bloody hell? Has the world gone mad?"

"It hasn't gone mad. I haven't gone mad." Lily said calmly, trying to quiet her friend before James heard her. "He just took me by surprise, is all, and in the heat of the moment, I forgot it was him, and…"

"And you kissed him back. You snogged James bloody Potter! I thought you were going to hex his bits off if he tried!"

Lily blushed. "Well… given the circumstances I don't think I could have."

"So does this mean you've finally swallowed your pride and you're with him?"

Lily blinked. "No, of course not."

"Are you out of your mind? Why didn't you say yes?"

"What the hell? One second you're yelling at me for snogging him, and the next you're yelling at me for _not_ being with him? Make up your mind Hestia!"

"It's one thing when you sneak out of the castle, he tells you some apparently 'life-altering news' that you refuse to share with me, and then snog the pants off of him. And then it's quite another when, after doing said things, you refuse to date him! He's mad about you Lily, can't you see?"

"I _can_ see Hestia. Despite what you all think I _can_ see that Potter likes me. But I don't know how I feel about him. He's been horrible to me for years…"

"Only because he couldn't figure out how to tell you he fancied you!"

Lily shot Hestia a look. "He's been telling me for seven years that he fancies me, Hestia. Haven't you noticed the things that tend to explode and the people that tend to get hexed when James is trying to get my attention? I don't respond that way Hest, you know that."

Hestia was gaping at her. "You called him James."

Lily blushed. "Well I'm sorry! I was in a perfectly good rant and you got me confused and… bloody hell!" She grabbed fistfuls of her hair and flopped backwards onto her bed. "He's been horrible to me for years, and then suddenly he's alright. He's talking _normally_ to me, and not hexing people, and not teasing me or asking me out every time he sees me. And then the bastard has to go and actually make a rational argument about why we should be together…"

"Which you can't tell me, right?" Hestia cut in.

Lily nodded apologetically. "And I can't figure out how I feel about him. I should hate him, I know that. I should be able to hold a grudge. But then he does something really sweet, and I can't get him out of my mind. And I think, 'Maybe, maybe he's actually changed'. But I don't want to think that, because if he turns right around and goes back to his usual James Potter prattish self, then I'll feel horrible." Lily flipped over and buried her head in her pillow before letting out a scream that was severely muffled.

Hestia stroked her friend's hair sympathetically. "Come on Lily, get up and get ready, then we'll eat and you'll feel better. I promise I'll let you brood all day, and I'll keep Mary and Marlene away. Though I don't know about how I'll keep away Potter."

Lily groaned. "Today is not going to be good. But let Potter come around, I can deal with him." Lily said as she got up and headed into the bathroom.

"And by deal with him, you mean…?" Hestia called through the closed door.

"Completely ignore him and run away like a coward whenever he tries to talk to me, yes." Lily called back.

Ten minutes Lily came out, changed, refreshed, and feeling quite a bit better. "Alright, let's go get food and try to ignore Potter all day."

Hestia grinned, hooked her arm through Lily's, and said, "Just another day at the office." This succeeded in making Lily laugh.

They didn't run into anyone annoying (Potter or otherwise) the whole way down to the Great Hall, which was quite an unusual surprise. Maybe today wouldn't be as bad as Lily thought.

Her opinion changed completely when she got into the Entrance Hall and saw James pacing back and forth in front of the doors to the Great Hall, running his hands through his hair nervously. Lily ducked her head and kept walking, trying to hide behind Hestia. Needless to say, she was unsuccessful.

"LILY!" He called as he saw her and Hestia draw closer. He ran over to her and tried to step in front of her to block her progress. "Please Lily, talk to me. Just… tell me whether you want to kill me or not. Please, I couldn't sleep at all last night. It's killing me. Please Lily, just talk to me!" he begged, still moving and keeping himself in front of her.

Hestia put a hand on James' chest, pushing him away from Lily. Hestia stepped between the dark haired, bespectacled boy and the redhead currently using her body as a shield. "Look Potter, can't you just leave it be? She needs time to think, alright? So lay off for today."

James looked stung, but he backed off and let the two enter the Great Hall without further interruption.

James sighed. He understood why she ran off last night, really he did, but it didn't make it any easier for him. He had promised himself that if she rejected him he would give her up. He didn't know then that he had been lying from his arse, but it seemed so obvious now. He couldn't give her up. You didn't spend seven years loving a girl to just give her up in one night.

And besides, she hadn't _actually_ turned him down, he reminded himself. When he had kissed her, she had responded, with just as much passion as he himself.

James didn't regret kissing her. It might have been too much to put her nerves through, but then again, it might be the only chance he _ever_ had to kiss her. He'd be a fool to let it go to waste.

But he wanted to know. He wanted to know, point blank, straight out, whether or not Lily had any feelings for him. He couldn't deal with this torture, this maybe-she-does, maybe-she-doesn't thing any longer. It was slowly making him mad. Sure, he was half-mad to begin with, but he also blamed that on Lily.

The thing he was after right now was just an answer. A simple, "Yes James, I could, at some point in the foreseeable future, see having a relationship with you", or, "No James, thinking about snogging you makes me ill and I would rather have the Giant Squid's children then ever consider you". That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

He sighed dramatically again. He hated waiting, but if it meant possibly being with Lily, then he was willing to wait as long as it took. Sirius would kill him if he ever heard that thought. James could just imagine it, "What the bloody hell are you thinking, Prongs? You're in the best years of your life, you're seventeen! You can drink firewhisky and shag birds! What are you doing, thinking about settling down when you haven't even had time to sow your wild oats?" James had no idea what 'sowing your wild oats' meant, but he thought it sounded rather disgusting, and vaguely messy.

But the point was that James was willing to wait. He had worn his heart on his sleeve, Lily had seen it, and now the Quaffle was in her possession.

So after coming to the mental decision to wait it out and let her make the next move, James composed himself and strode into the Great Hall. He thought it would be fairly easy, just treat her like he had the first two years he had known her; completely ignore her and talk to Sirius instead, while remaining acutely aware of her presence close by. Hopefully he could cut out the blushing and stammering that accompanied any glimpse he got of Lily Evans in his first and second years.

But as he walked towards the rest of the Marauders, sitting right next to Lily and her friends (of course they had to be) James realized that it might be a bit more difficult than he had originally thought.

James took a seat in between Sirius and Marlene, and then immediately began to regret his decision. Of course, he usually sat right next to his best friend, that was nothing unusual, but his choice in seats had placed him directly opposite Lily. Every time he glanced up from his plate, his eyes were immediately drawn to her red hair and freckly face. And every once in a while, James got the feeling that as soon as he glanced up, her gaze snapped back to her food. Was she watching him as intently as he was watching her (and possibly quite a bit more furtively)?

James couldn't focus on eating, watching Lily, _and_ talking, so he chose to skip the latter, instead focusing on getting as much food into his body. This turned out to be very difficult, because every time he saw Lily (which was more and more frequently, as the meal progressed) his mouth ran dry and he found it very difficult to swallow. His and Lily's silences did not go unnoticed by Sirius. James wished it had slipped by his very perceptive friend.

"What is the matter with you two?" Sirius finally asked, after getting fed up with the awkward pauses that broke through the conversation where James or Lily (or both) would usually fill in. "Did you snog or something?"

Everyone's eyes bulged at the twin blushes sweeping over the faces of the two Gryffindors. "You did, didn't you?" Sirius asked, awed. "You two snogged!"

"Shhh!" Hestia shushed him. "Do you want the whole bloody school to hear you?"

"I think Prongs wants the whole bloody school to hear! HEY EVERYBODY, LISTEN UP! JAMES-MMPPHHHH!" he was cut off as James reached over and clamped a hand firmly to his best friend's mouth, effectively stopping his words.

A few people at the tables closest to them gave them weird looks, but considering it was James Potter and Sirius Black, they put it down to regular behavior.

"UGGHH!" James yelled in disgust, pulling his hand away and wiping it on his robes. "He licked me!" he said in outrage to a snickering Remus. "It's not funny Moony! Can't you control him?"

Remus shook his head. "No more than you can, and quite a bit less than Hestia can."

And sure enough Hestia, who was sitting right across from Sirius, had grabbed him by the ear and shook him. "You really need to work on your manners, Black! How rude can you get?"

Sirius shot her a wolfish grin. "Oh, a right side more than this. Shall I tell the lovely people of Gryffindor what exactly you can do with your tongue?"

Hestia flamed a brilliant shade of red that James had never seen before.

"What?" Lily hissed to the blonde sitting next to her. Hestia shook her head vigorously. "What the bloody hell is he talking about, Hestia?" Lily hissed at her friend. Hestia, if it was possible, went even redder.

Sirius, the bastard that he was, looked amused and pleased, rather than ashamed. Marlene was glaring at him, but he seemed not to notice.

Lily grabbed her friend by the upper arm and dragger her out of her seat and towards the Entrance Hall. "Wait!" Hestia called out, wriggling out of Lily's crushing grip and running back over to Gryffindor table. She grabbed her bowl of porridge and proceeded to smash it in Sirius' face. He came up spluttering, looking shocked and astounded.

Hestia glared at him and whispered, venomously, "You're a prat. I can't bloody stand you, Black." She then twirled on her heel and stomped out of the Hall, this time Lily had to run to keep up with her.

Sirius, porridge dripping from his face, turned to his laughing friends and said, "What did I do?"

Mary, sweet little Mary McDonnell, slid down the bed opposite Sirius and then leaned over the table to slap him on the side of his head. She hit him hard, and the SLAP resounded through the Hall, drawing even more eyes to Sirius' humiliating condition. "You're lucky all she did was shove porridge in your face. I would have castrated you." Mary growled, before getting up and stomping out of the Hall to join her friends.

Sirius wiped his face off and then turned to Marlene, the last one of the four girls to still be sitting at the table. She was glaring at him with an expression that could rival his mother's, on her worst day.

"Okay, seriously, what the bloody hell did I do?"

Marlene growled and reached her hand out. Sirius ducked, thinking he was going to be slapped again.

"Oh stop it, you baby. I'm getting some of this out of your hair." She wiped his hair with her napkin, a little rougher than necessary, and Sirius yelped.

"How did I make her so pissed?" He asked, now seriously confused.

"You're a bloody idiot, Black. I always considered you clever. I honestly had _some_ sliver of respect for you. But you're a bigger prat than I thought. I was wrong about you, and I hate to say it. Is it true? Were you really hooking up with Hestia?" Sirius nodded. "Then you're an even bigger idiot. You just told your best friends, and hers, that the two of you have been getting up to something… let's say… not exactly Holy. You didn't consult her, you didn't tell her you wanted to tell them, and what's worse is that you brought it up as an attempt to humiliate her.

"You may not be aware of it Sirius, but you essentially just called Hestia a slag. You embarrassed her in front of her friends and her housemates, and it's going to take a lot to fix that. I thought you cared about her. I thought you wanted a relationship with her. And here you've been, hooking up with her for Merlin knows how long, and you throw it all away for the price of a joke." Sirius looked miserable, and horribly ashamed. He opened his mouth to try and explain himself, but Marlene held up a hand, stopping him. "I don't want to hear it Black. You dug you own grave, you can dig yourself out. And right now, I'm too bloody pissed at you to hear you speak."

She got up and threw her used napkin in his face. She turned to leave before stopping and turning around. "I hope it was worth it." And that was the last thing she said before she left the Great Hall in search of Hestia, who was bound to be very distraught.

James watched her go in awe. He knew that what Sirius had said was bad, and he would never _think_ of saying something like that to Lily, but Merlin, this was worse than he thought. He turned towards Sirius, about to ask him a question, but he never got the chance.

Sirius was sitting, with his elbows on the table, his face in his hands, shaking. James didn't know how to react. It almost looked like Sirius was crying, but Sirius Black never cried, _ever._

"Uhhh, Padfoot?" James asked nervously, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Sirius looked up, his eyes red, his face twisted with anguish, disbelief, and disgust at himself. "What have I done James? What have I done?" he buried his head in his hands again, and James just had to sit there and stare at him. Because he had no clue what to say to make his friend feel better. He didn't think anything would help.

Meanwhile, Lily and Hestia were in an empty classroom. After watching her friend storm out of there in a huff, Lily had followed Hestia's quick pace into an empty classroom. Hestia barely got inside before she proceeded to fire hexes everywhere. Lily quickly slipped back out of the classroom, but kept her face pressed to the glass; watching and making sure her friend didn't hurt herself.

Mary came running up, panting and out of breath, and asked, "Where's Hestia?" Lily gestured inside. Mary took a little peek through the glass and then grimaced. "Blimey, she's angry. What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. Where's Marlene?"

"I think she stayed behind to tell him off. I slapped him."

Lily grinned. "Good for you Mary. He deserved it."

After about another thirty seconds, Lily sighed. "Oh this is bloody ridiculous." She stuck her head in the door cautiously, and said, "Hest? Can you stop the target practice for a bit?"

Hestia quieted her string of hexes and curse words, and Lily and Mary slipped in. It was obvious that their friend was still fuming. "I hate him." Was the first thing out of her mouth.

Lily nodded. "He's a git."

"No, he's more than a git." Hestia said quickly, sounding a little crazy. "He's a prick, he's an arse, he's a bastard, he's a prat, he's a two-faced, slimy, cheating, double-crossing, backstabbing, dog-breathed, son of a bitch!" Lily and Mary only nodded along. "I can't fucking believe him! He had to go saying that about me, making me sound like a slag and telling all of you that we're together… but we're not together… I don't know what the bloody hell we _were_ but we're definitely not it now!"

"So, what was that all about?" Lily asked quietly. "Are you really hooking up with him?"

"I _was_ hooking up with him Lily, I'm definitely not going anywhere near him now! Oh he thinks he's so charming… yeah, well you know what, Black? You're not! Merlin! You know he's been asking me out constantly, even more frequently since we started snogging in broom cupboards. But I told him, I said I didn't want a relationship, least of all with him! I mean, he's Sirius Black! His shelf life for girlfriends is about the same as a banana! He's shagging a new girl twice a month, and I didn't want to be another faceless name on his list. So I told him no. But I still snogged him at least four times a week. I mean, can you blame me? He's mildly attractive, and I have needs, you know?"

Hestia yelled in frustration and shot her wand at a desk, causing it to splinter and crack. Both Lily and Mary jumped. Hestia had wreaked havoc on the room.

Just then Marlene stuck her head in the door. "You know how much I hate to do this to you lot, but we're going to be late to Potions if we don't get a move on, fast." She froze when she saw the destroyed classroom. "For Merlin's sake Hestia, what did the desk ever do to you?"

Hestia growled. "Don't be cute right now. I'm too bloody furious."

"Yes and the last thing you want is a detention from Slughorn. It'll just make you feel worse. Come on, we'll all help you fix this up, and you can think of new ways to hex Sirius' genitals later."

Hestia brightened a little bit. "That sounds like a bloody good time."

With the four seventh years working together, the class was back to perfect in about two minutes. They all left for the dungeons, none of them talking, all stuck in their own thoughts. The worst thing about the upcoming day, Lily realized, is that she had every single class with Hestia and the Marauders. Not only would that mean she had to spend the day with a pissed-off Hestia (which was never fun), but she would have to spend the day keeping Hestia from murdering the idiot Black, keep Black from begging and getting himself in bigger trouble with her blonde best friend, and try to completely ignore Potter throughout all of this. Though maybe she should team up with Potter, surely the two of them together could keep their friends alive and in one piece.

But she didn't know how she felt about him. She didn't know how she was going to try and mull that over. She couldn't ask for Hestia's help, because her friend obviously had other thoughts on her mind. Maybe Mary and Marlene would keep an eye on Hestia…

Lily shook her head. That wasn't an option. Best friends came before your own problems every time, not matter how serious your own problems were. Lily sighed. Doing the right thing sucked sometimes.

Thanks to Marlene they weren't late, and they got their pick of seats as far away from the Marauders as possible.

Potions was much the same as usual. Slughorn was his usual creepy self, Lily's and Hestia's potion was perfect, but that had very little to do with Hestia (because she was useless when she was brooding) and almost everything to do with Lily's ability to compartmentalize.

Because of their potion, they earned Gryffindor fifteen points, which put half of the Dungeon in a better mood (the Gryffindor half, obviously). Ignoring Potter in this class was extremely easy. She was sitting far away from him, he was behind her, and their potion could not be left unattended for even a minute, or else it may curdle and burn right through the bottom of the cauldron, as was shown by Walden Macnair. Slughorn just shook his head at the boy and kept on walking.

Slughorn asked the class to write a fifteen inch essay about each ingredient in the Felix Felicis potion, and exactly what horrendous thing would happen to you if you missed one ingredient and then drank the potion. This essay was not going to be easy, Lily knew already.

Their next class was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Usually Lily loved going to Transfiguration, because it was an interesting and challenging class, but today all Lily wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep, and possibly think.

Lily was getting more and more agitated as the day wore on. It was partially due to Hestia and her constant grumbling, the fact that Professor McGonagall had assigned them _another_ essay, on top of the one she had already given them, how she couldn't get a single bloody second to herself to just _think_, and also how every time she looked up at lunch, James' eyes were there to meet hers. They were a wonderful hazel colour, a mix between green and blue, with little flecks of grey and gold in them… Lily shook herself and bent lower to eat her soup.

Hestia was miserable all through lunch. She didn't look up at all from her food, and when Sirius tried to talk to her, she whipped out her wand, shot a stinging hex at him, and stormed out. Lily looked down at her food sadly. She wanted to stay and eat, because she was exhausted, and that always made her hungry, but it was her duty as a best friend to follow Hestia. She knew Hestia would do the same for her. So Lily stood up and hurried after her friend.

Her next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was Lily's second favourite class after Charms. Thankfully, Professor Krettleman only asked them to review previous spells today. Good, this was a class where Lily wouldn't have to think, and likely wouldn't get any homework.

But the most surprising thing happened after Lily had calmed Hestia down and they got to class, when James Potter walked in. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all headed to their usual seats in the back, but James headed for Lily. She was completely prepared to ignore him, but he didn't say a thing to her. Instead he placed a small bundle on her desk. His hand lingered near hers for a second longer than necessary, and then he was gone to the back of the classroom with his friends. Lily slid the bundle into her lap and opened it.

She unwrapped the napkin, and it fell open. Lily's stomach twisted and her heart melted a little. For there, sitting in that little bundle, were two sandwiches. James had brought her food, because he knew she'd be hungry after leaving lunch so early.

She turned around in her seat and caught his eye. He gave her a small smile, which she returned. Lily turned back around and ate her sandwiches while Professor Krettleman gave the instructions. Suddenly this day wasn't so bad.

Lily couldn't focus through Defense. Her mind kept flitting back to James. The time to think she had been craving earlier was suddenly available, but Lily didn't know _what_ to think. James had just done yet another completely kind and sincere act for her, and now Lily was feeling like crap for treating him the way she was. He didn't deserve it, she now realized. James was a good person. He was a nice person. Whether or not that meant that she had any feelings for him… Lily still wasn't quite sure.

After a laughably easy Defense class, Lily and her three friends headed to Charms. Lily's stomach was in knots the whole way there, because she knew that she could not get out of avoiding James in this class, where they were partnered up. She would have to swallow her pride and talk to him. Hopefully she wouldn't have to talk to him about her feelings, because that was already going to be an awkward conversation, and the last thing Lily needed was to have it in front of the whole class and one of her favourite professors.

The four friends took their usual seats, Lily and Hestia at one table, Mary and Marlene at another right next to it, and waited for Professor Flitwick to start the lesson. Hestia's sour mood had improved slightly after lunch. It seemed like her anger was boiling down to a low simmer. Although Lily didn't know how her working with Sirius would turn out. If Sirius was smart (and valued his life) he wouldn't say a blasted thing to Hestia the whole time.

Flitwick came bustling in, and Lily sat up a little straighter. "Settle down, settle down, everyone take your seats! We have to work quickly today. I am very excited for today's lesson. Hopefully by the end, quite a few more of you will have mastered the Patronus Charm. Now hop to it!" And with that everyone split off into pairs and went into their own sections of the room.

Lily stood up and walked to the corner where she and James usually worked. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. She saw James headed towards her, a bit slower than usual, and when her eyes met his, her stomach started twisting oddly. She put it down as hunger, and tried to ignore the way her heart was picking up.

"Hey." He said quietly as he joined her.

"Hey back." She said.

James shuffled his foot nervously and ran a hand through his hair. "So… should we just focus on Charms for right now?"

Lily sighed in relief. A little part of her actually _did_ want to talk to him, but the largest part was relieved that she would get to put it off a few more hours. "Yes, let's. I think you should try, considering you haven't managed it yet."

"Alright." He said, and focused in on the first broomstick ride he ever took. He was still using the same memory, because he felt like it would be strong enough, if he could just get his concentration right. "Expecto Patronum!" Again, silver mist shot from his wand, but nothing more. He swore under his breath.

Professor Flitwick came scurrying over, but luckily he hadn't heard James' use of profanity. "That memory doesn't seem to be doing justice, Mr. Potter. Tell me, what were you thinking about?"

"The first time I rode a broom."

"Oh no, that's not _nearly_ good enough! You don't need to think about _thrill_, Mr. Potter. It needs to be _joy, ecstasy_, something that you've never felt in any other circumstance. It needs to fill you up, it needs to make you smile, and it needs to make you wish for that time, over and over again. Do you have any memories like that?"

"Well…" James blushed. "There is one…"

"What is it of?"

"It's…" James blushed again and glanced at Lily, unwilling to share something this personal in front of her. But he swallowed the lump in his throat, and said in a stronger voice, "It's Christmas, the year I turned eight. It was the first Christmas that both my Mum and Dad were there for. It's the _only_ Christmas they've both been there for. We're sitting by the fire, on Christmas Eve, listening to the radio. I'm playing chess with Dad, and Mum is sitting on the sofa, watching us and smiling while we all drink eggnog. It's kind of boring, but… it's the happiest I've ever felt."

Professor Flitwick was giving James a sad smile, but Lily was stunned. She had no idea James had to spend his Christmases alone when he was a boy. She had no idea that the thing that made him happiest in the world was a chess game with his Dad while they listened to the radio. Lily felt her heart melt quite a bit more. She wanted to hug that little boy that James spoke of, the little boy with no one around on Christmas.

"Ms. Evans, perhaps you could give a demonstration, just to help out Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked, and Lily nodded.

She focused all her energy into her happiest time, and said, "Expecto Patronum." Her doe burst from the wand and galloped around the classroom. It cantered to a stop in front of her, and then turned to look at James. It cocked its head to the side, as if it were evaluating him.

James cleared his throat and closed his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, before opening them and saying, very firmly, "Expecto Patronum!" Something huge and antlered burst forth from his wand and sped around the classroom, drawing quite a few gazes along the way.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. It was a stag, the very same stag that she had seen only last night, except this time it was silver, and ethereal, and glowing. Lily had to blink a few times. She had never seen something this beautiful. Even her own Patronus wasn't as awe-inspiring as this magnificent beast in front of her.

James' Patronus came trotting back towards him, but veered off towards Lily's silver doe, which she only just realized she was still conjuring. The stag, seemingly of its own volition, without James' guidance, nuzzled against Lily's doe, which responded in kind. Both teenagers stared at their Patronuses, unable to understand what was happening.

They both jumped when Flitwick spoke. "This is… quite remarkable. I can hardly believe I'm seeing something like this, happening in my own classroom."

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean, Professor?" James asked, completely nonplussed.

"I don't believe I've ever seen a case like this. There are rumors, of course, but they've only ever been rumors."

"What rumors, Professor?" Lily asked, still watching her Patronus interact with James'.

"There are rumors that say that two people with corresponding Patronus shapes are _meant to be_. I never put much stock in it. It all seemed like silly fantasies and ridiculous romantics to me. But perhaps, Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans, you are more connected than you realize." The Professor didn't even stay to explain what he was talking about. He awarded Gryffindor ten points for James' Patronus, and then went off to help Sirius and Hestia, who seemed to be arguing.

Lily and James merely stood, staring at each other, trying to process everything that had just happened. They turned back to look at their Patronuses, and Lily's vanished quite suddenly. She realized she had lost focus.

What was odd was that James' stag turned its head from left to right, as if searching, before it too vanished.

James didn't know what to say. There was some part of him (a very proud and rather evil part) that wanted to cry "I told you so!" Luckily for James, he was able to very successfully keep that part of himself hidden. Another part of him wanted to sweep Lily up and kiss her, full on the mouth, public humiliation be damned. This part was harder to control, but he managed. And finally, the part that won out, said, "Well where the bloody hell does that put us?" Judging by the look on Lily's face, he almost wished he had said "I told you so".

Her face showed annoyance and frustration, but her response was very quiet and controlled. "I don't know James. I thought that last night and today would make me less confused, but really it's just made me want to cry and rip out my own hair."

James moved towards her out of instinct, saying, "I don't want you to cry."

She backed away, also out of instinct, which stung James' emotions quite a bit. "I need a little more time, James. Please give me a little more time."

James didn't want to give her more time. He wanted to demand an answer, right here, right now. He wanted to force her to tell him exactly what was on her mind so they could work through it together. But he knew that wouldn't go over well. So he nodded, and neither of them said anything else for the rest of class.

They were dismissed, and all of them headed off to dinner. James was thankful for the distraction. Food was always a nice way to take his mind off of Lily, and maybe Hestia and Sirius wouldn't kill each other at the meal, and they could all actually eat however much they wanted.

It seemed as if someone had heard James' silent plea. Though Hestia and Sirius did not talk all throughout dinner, they at least didn't yell at each other, and no one ran out in a huff, which was always a good meal, in James' book.

James spent his time talking to Sirius and Marlene about Quidditch. He wanted to bring Hestia into the conversation, but figured (rightly) that that couldn't end well. So Remus spent dinner talking to Lily and Hestia. James was slightly jealous of his friend, much preferring talking to Lily over Quidditch plays, but he knew she was still mulling things over. Peter and Mary contributed to whichever conversation they were closest to. Both of them being shy people, they did not always participate in conversations unless specifically dragged into them. James always tried to bring Peter in on whatever they were plotting, and he knew Marlene was Mary's best friend and confidant. Just because they were quiet, that did not make them useless members of the group.

So dinner came and went. Lily was thinking about heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but Hestia quickly nixed that. "You go on without us." She said to Mary and Marlene, who shrugged and continued up.

"What's up Hestia?" Lily asked.

"I don't want to go to the Common Room. I don't want to risk running into that prat." She said, a scowl crossing her face. Lily knew who 'that prat' was, and frankly Lily didn't want to run into him either. "Can we go back to your room instead?"

"Sure. I'm fairly sure James will be going back to Gryffindor Tower with Remus, Sirius, and Peter anyways." And Hestia was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to even register that James was no longer 'Potter' to Lily.

"Brilliant. Maybe we can actually do some of this homework." Lily groaned. That's the absolute _last_ thing she wanted to be thinking of, so you knew something was up. Here was _Lily Evans_ not wanting to do her homework. James had screwed with her head more than she cared to admit.

They got to Lily's Common Room, which was thankfully empty. The two of them sat down around a table in front of the fire and pulled their essays out of their bags. They worked in silence, appreciating the fact that they didn't need to talk to each other to be comfortable.

They heard a commotion outside in the hall, and Lily and Hestia looked up, perplexed. It sounded like two people shouting.

Suddenly the door banged open and Sirius stormed in, James trailing behind him, looking desperate.

"James, what…?" Lily started to ask, but she was cut off by Sirius.

"Hestia, we need to talk."

Hestia made a small noise of disgust in the back of her throat and turned back to her essay. Sirius growled.

"Can we have a moment James, Lily?" Sirius asked through clenched teeth.

James nodded and grabbed Lily by the upper arm. Lily tried to struggle away from him and ask Sirius what the bloody hell was going on, but she took one look at James' face and fell silent. He looked a little desperate, and a little sad.

James opened the door to the bathroom and went in quickly, pulling Lily behind him. He shut the door swiftly and pushed her up against it, so they were chest to chest. Lily's breath caught in her throat. For half a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. But all James said was "Shhh" with his eyes trained on her lips.

Lily found her mouth inexplicably dry, so she licked her lips slowly. James groaned, but quickly gathered himself. He moved off of her and pressed his ear to the door. Lily had to catch her breath for a few seconds before mirroring him.

"Hestia, please listen!" Sirius was saying. Lily put her eye to the key hole and saw him grab her friend by the hand and pull her back to face him.

Hestia glared. "What do you want, Black?" She spit the name out like it was something vulgar stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

"Let me explain, please, I'm begging you."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"Because I can't lose you!" he yelled. This effectively froze Hestia in her place. "I can't lose you, and I realize that now. I panicked this morning, because I've never been with a girl this long. You're the only person I've been able to stand longer than three months, hell, longer than three _weeks_, and I got scared! It was too easy with you. I mean, it was too easy to _be_ with you. It shouldn't be that easy, should it? So I got to thinking, which you know is always a bad idea with me. And I came to the conclusion that something was wrong, and it was time for our relationship to end. Of course, I'm an idiot, and a prat, so I said what I did in front of everyone. I'm not trying to excuse myself, not at all, because I know I really hurt you. But I didn't expect that to happen. I was just expecting you to get pissed at me, and then break up with me later. What I didn't think about was how much it would kill me to see that look on your face."

Sirius looked strange, grasping her hands and confessing his true feelings. Sirius never confessed his feelings, because he was always convinced he would never feel anything _real_. That alone was enough to keep Hestia in her place.

"I want a real relationship with you, Hestia. I don't want any more of this 'hooking up' thing that we do. I know it makes you feel safer, and you didn't want to tell our friends about us, and maybe that's why I said what I did this morning… I don't know! But I've been thinking and thinking about never getting to talk to you again, flirt with you, kiss you… and it was unbearable!

"Look, I can't be sure quite what I want, but I know one thing for certain. I want _you_, Hestia Jones. For as long as you'll take me, or for as long as you'll tolerate my bad jokes, it's up to you. But I don't want to just be hooking up with you, and I don't want you out of my life either. Bloody hell, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't want a 'Sirius Black' relationship. I want a real, adult relationship, because for some strange reason, I fancy you quite a bit. And because life is quite beautiful and wonderful at times, you fancy me a bit too. Or at least… you did this morning. So please Hestia, take me back. Let me be with you for real, because it's only been a couple hours, but already I'm going crazy without you."

Sirius stopped talking and took a few deep breaths. He waited with baited breath for a few seconds, and they were the longest of his life. James and Lily, with their ears pressed to the bathroom door, were waiting just as nervously as Sirius.

Finally, Hestia spoke. "Sirius Orion Black, sometimes I can't bloody stand you. And then you go and do something like this, and I can't believe I ever lived without you."

"So that's a yes?"

"It's a yes, you prat, but I could very well change my mind." The there was a growl, and a little gasp, and then what sounded like someone being pushed very roughly against the door. Lily withdrew her eye quickly from the keyhole.

"Don't you dare." Sirius growled and then it went silent (presumably because the two found their mouths otherwise… occupied…)

James and Lily backed away from the door and sat with their backs against the tub, staring at the door with mixed expressions. Lily seemed fascinated, while James was just disgusted. True, Lily was a little queasy too, because that was her best friend being snogged to death out there, but she wasn't about to do anything about it.

After a few minutes of Lily and James sitting in the small bathroom awkwardly, praying that their two friends didn't decide to go at it right against the door, they heard Sirius say, "Come on, let's get out of here. I don't think our Head Boy and Girl would approve of what we're about to do." Sirius rapped against the door and called, "Hey you two! If you're not shagging, you can come out!"

Lily stood up and headed for the door, but James grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Let's give it a few minutes, just to be safe." Lily nodded. That seemed like the best option, though she would love to get out of this stuffy bathroom. She was sitting far too close to James, and he was looking at her far too intently, and her stomach was doing that strange twisty thing it was doing in Charms class.

After a few minutes had gone by, James deemed the Common Room Sirius-free, and the two came out of the bathroom. James went over and sat on the couch while Lily stood by her bedroom door, wanting desperately to go in, but also wanting to talk to James.

As if he had read her mind, James asked, "Have you made up your mind yet?" He was looking directly into the fire, not making eye contact, afraid of her answer.

She nodded, and then remembering he wasn't looking at her, said, "Yes, I think I have."

His head whipped around. He stared at her. Neither said anything, so James prompted, "Yes, what is it?"

Lily shuffled uncomfortably before going and sitting on the couch, a good meter away from him. She played with her hands on her lap and didn't look at him.

"Lily, please, you have to tell me. Please." He begged.

She took a deep breath before she looked into his eyes and said, "I haven't been giving you enough credit for how you are now. I think it took the whole Patronus thing to make me realize. You're much better now. Definitely in comparison to a year ago, and even as opposed to three days ago, when you were sending gnomes into the Great Hall dressed like lions." James smiled ruefully as the memory came back to him. Lily frowned in concentration, trying to gather her thoughts. "But, I don't know, something about this year with you is just… easier. It's easier to talk to you, and it's easier to laugh with you, and work with you. I don't know what happened. Maybe you changed, maybe I did… I can't be sure."

"I think it was a little bit of both." James whispered.

She nodded. "That seems right. I guess what I'm saying is that yes, I do like you. With all the little things you've been doing, like standing up for me against Sirius, and bringing me those sandwiches…" James grinned. He knew that was a good idea. "Don't get smug." She chastised. "So yes James, I fancy you."

He whooped and pumped his fist in the air, making Lily smile. "I knew you'd warm up to me! Oh Lily, oh thank you." He kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush. He smiled. "So did you think my Patronus/Animagus argument was solid? I was honestly terrified that you would hex me when I told you."

Lily didn't speak for a few seconds. "I think if anything, it actually confused me more. And the kiss certainly didn't help."

James' face fell. "So you regret the kiss?"

"Oh no! Oh Merlin James, not at all! It really was quite wonderful." He perked up a little, but didn't seem completely convinced. So Lily moved her head forwards and captured his lips with hers. James froze in shock, but quickly recovered and kissed her back firmly. When they could go no longer without air, they pulled away slowly.

"Wow." James breathed with an awe-struck look on his face. "I definitely wasn't expecting _that_."

Lily chuckled. "I told you I didn't regret it. But it did confuse me beyond belief. You had been incredibly sweet that day, surprisingly so, and then you drag me out of the Hogwarts grounds, and spring all this information on me. Like, for example, you're an illegal Animagus." James looked down, ashamed. Lily lifted his chin up so he was looking back at her. "I'm not mad. I actually think it's pretty brilliant. I mean the kind of magic involved with that… it must have taken years. But it didn't make me like you. You did that just fine on your own. It just gave me a better reason to _see_ that I liked you."

James kissed her sweetly, and she kissed him back. Lily leaned forwards a ways, causing James to fall down on his back, with Lily on top of him. James had never honestly believed he would be in this situation. He had dreamed about it, oh yes, but usually in his dreams they were quite a bit less clothed. But James was perfectly happy right here, because this was far better than any dream he could ever have come up with. Lily really did taste as beautiful as she looked…

His hands slid up the back of her shirt and rested on her lower back. He wouldn't dream of going any farther tonight.

Lily sat up abruptly. "What is it? Did I do something wrong? Is this too fast?" He asked, panicked that he had ruined his chance already.

"No, it's not that. That was perfectly fine. Better than fine, actually." She said, blushing. She cleared her throat and then said the thing that was eating at her. "It's just that… yesterday, when you were arguing with Sirius before Charms, Remus said… well, he said 'let James love whomever he wants' and you didn't correct him. Why didn't you correct him?"

James shrugged. "There was nothing to correct."

Lily sat up more completely, disentangling herself from James. He sat up with her. "How do you mean?" she asked, confused and a little concerned.

"Well, there was nothing to correct. He was right when he said that. What I mean is…" James took a deep breath and looked right in Lily's eyes. "I love you. I didn't want to tell you so soon, because I didn't want to scare you away. And I realize I've probably completely mucked this up, and I hate myself for it, but it's better that you know, know what I mean? At least this way you can chuck me on my arse and I know that you know how I feel. But if it's all the same to you I'd rather not be chucked on my arse…"

Lily put a hand on his lips, silencing him. "You're rambling James."

He nodded and opened his mouth to apologize, but figured he couldn't trust himself to keep everything inside, so he shut it quickly.

Lily kissed him softly. "I'm not chucking you on your arse. For some odd reason I found your rambling very charming. But James, I'm not in love with you."

"I didn't expect you to be. I mean it's only today or maybe yesterday that you stopped hating me, and I never even expected _that_ much to happen, so I think I'm just thankful that you don't want to hex me for being a creepy stalker." James said very quickly. Lily chuckled again. "I was rambling, wasn't I?"

She nodded, still smiling at him. "I may not be in love with you James Potter, but I _would_ love the opportunity to fall in love with you."

"That's more than I ever hoped for." And James kissed her again, this time forcing her to lie back on the couch. They continued on like that for minutes, hours, days, James didn't know. Lily was lying under him, _very_ willing to continue snogging him, and who was he to complain? He finally had the love of his life returning his affections.

James had dreamed of this day, hoped for it, hell, even prayed for it, but in the back of his mind he had somehow never thought it would happen. Of course, everyone else saw it as inevitable, but James, no matter what he bragged about, was always afraid of Lily never returning his affections. If she hadn't have agreed to date him this year, and he never saw her again after Hogwarts, it would have been the greatest regret of his life.

But now they had all the time in the world for what could be, what _can_ be. They had a world of opportunities in front of them. And James owed it all to tiny Professor Flitwick, the Patronus Charm, Sirius Black (in some odd way that he wasn't completely sure about, but he felt like he should include Sirius in the list of things that caused this relationship), and a silver doe. One bright silver doe and one red-haired girl that he was never letting go of.

**End.**


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